Wandering stars pass through our solar system surprisingly often

Astronomy ^ | 21 May, 2020 | Eric Betz

[MtnClimber]

Our sun has had close encounters with other stars in the past, and it’s due for a dangerously close one in the not-so-distant future.

Every 50,000 years or so, a nomadic star passes near our solar system. Most brush by without incident. But, every once in a while, one comes so close that it gains a prominent place in Earth’s night sky, as well as knocks distant comets loose from their orbits.

The most famous of these stellar interlopers is called Scholz’s Star. This small binary star system was discovered in 2013. Its orbital path indicated that, about 70,000 years ago, it passed through the Oort Cloud, the extended sphere of icy bodies that surrounds the fringes of our solar system. Some astronomers even think Scholz’s Star could have sent some of these objects tumbling into the inner solar system when it passed.

However, Scholz’s Star is relatively small and rapidly moving, which should have minimized its effect on the solar system. But in recent years, scientists have been finding that these kinds of encounters happen far more often than once expected. Scholz’s Star wasn’t the first flyby, and it won’t be the last. In fact, we’re on track for a much more dramatic close encounter in the not-too-distant future.

SNIP

A massive star steamrolling through the outer solar system is exactly what Gaia data show will happen less than 1.4 million years from now, according to a 2016 study. A star called Gliese 710 will pass within 10,000 astronomical units — 1 AU is equal to the average Earth-Sun distance of 93 million miles. That’s well within the outer edge of the Oort Cloud.

[MtnClimber]

Buy popcorn!

[pa_dweller]

massive star steamrolling through the outer solar system is exactly what Gaia data show will happen less than 1.4 million years from now, according to a 2016 study

==========+=======

I wonder if lockdown will be over by then?

[Flick Lives]

3 light years: Distance to our solar system’s Oort Cloud
4.37 light years: Distance to Proxima Centauri, our nearest neighboring star

[Moonman62]

A massive star steamrolling through the outer solar system is exactly what Gaia data show will happen less than 1.4 million years from now, according to a 2016 study.

...

I predict a toilet paper shortage in 1.4 million years.

[MtnClimber]

As long as it is brown dwarf stars passing by, we should be OK. A red giant at end of life or a Wolf–Rayet star would be bad news.

[Berosus]

I thought the Oort Cloud was supposed to be closer than the Heliopause, the imaginary line between the solar system and interstellar space. Didn’t the Pioneer (10 & 11) and Voyager probes cross the Heliopause already? This article gives me another reason to ask if the Oort Cloud really exists.

[hotsteppa]

With what we know about gravity and massive objects how is this even possible?

[butlerweave]

Is that a song ?

[Rurudyne]

I wonder if Hillary will finally be charged with something by then.

[hotsteppa]

Yeah a Wolf-Rayet would disturb more than a few comets. Not to mention the radiation.

[DannyTN]

Flubros 1.4 million years from now will say:

• It's just starlight bro
• It's just gravity bro
• Staying indoors will kill you
• Nobody knows the numbers
• The radiation is overstated
• The gravitational effects are overstated
• We've had stars pass through the solar system before and the planet didn't crack up
• It's a CCP/leftist Plot to get Donald Trump unelected in the year 1,402,020.

[Theo]

“... stars pass through our solar system ...”

Yeah, no, I don’t think that’s ever happened, that another star has literally passed through our solar system.

[chajin]

As long as it is brown dwarf stars passing by, we should be OK.

Racism has no place on FR. (/jk)

[MtnClimber]

With what we know about gravity and massive objects how is this even possible?

A brown dwarf star is not so massive and would only be visible in infrared. A brown dwarf could be as small as a little over 10 times the mass of Jupiter.

[Quality_Not_Quantity]

It’s apparently relative - 1.4 million years from now being considered the not-too-distant future.

[Flick Lives]

As long as it is brown dwarf stars passing by, we should be OK. A red giant at end of life or a Wolf–Rayet star would be bad news.

—

SPF 1M sun block is recommended.

[Spirochete]

I thought the Oort Cloud was supposed to be closer than the Heliopause, the imaginary line between the solar system and interstellar space. Didn’t the Pioneer (10 & 11) and Voyager probes cross the Heliopause already?

You may be thinking of the Kuiper belt. The Oort cloud is much, much further than the heliopause. Its inner boundary is roughly 2,000 AU distant and it extends out about 1 light-year.

The Voyagers won't reach the Oort cloud for several centuries.

[Rio]

Born Under a Wandering Star...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnbiRDNaDeo

[bert]

I was born under a wanderin’ star
I was born under a wanderin’ star

Wheels are made for rollin’
Mules are made to pack
I never seen a sight that didn’t look better looking back.

I was born under a wanderin’ star

Mud can make you prisoner
And the plains can bake you dry
Snow can burn your eyes
But only people make you cry
Home is made for comin’ from
For dreams of goin’ to
Which with any luck will never come true

I was born under a wanderin’ star
I was born under a wanderin’ star

Do I know where hell is?
Hell is in Hello
Heaven is good-bye forever
It’s time for me to go

I was born under a wanderin’ star
A wanderin’ wanderin’ star

Mud can make you prisoner
And the plains can bake you dry
Snow can burn your eyes
But only people make you cry
Home is made for comin’ from
For dreams of goin’ to
Which with any luck will never come true

I was born under a wanderin’ star
I was born under a wanderin’ star

When I get to heaven
Tie me to a tree
Or I’ll begin to roam
And soon you know where I will be

I was born under a wanderin’ star
A wanderin’ wanderin’ star