Latest news with #Kaib
Metro
04-06-2025
- General
- Metro
A passing star could fling the Earth out of the Sun's orbit
The Earth may one day be pulled out of its perfect position by a passing star, a new study has revealed. And Mercury will also play a part. The smallest planet has an oval-shaped orbit, which can sometimes wobble due to Jupiter's huge gravitational influence as the solar system's largest planet. A passing star could exacerbate this affect, with significant consequences on the planet we call home... (Picture: Getty) Dr Nathan Kaib, an astronomer at the Planetary Science Institute, who is based in Iowa, and Dr Sean Raymond, an astronomer at the University of Bordeaux in France, published their findings in the journal Icarus after they created simulations of what would happen when our solar system passes nearby stars over the next several billion years (Picture: Getty) The researchers said the gravity of a passing star could hurl us into space - predicting a probability that this could happen of 1 in 500 or 0.2%. However, that is not the only thing that could happen. The sheer gravitational force could also throw all the planets out of whack, and could even send one of them smashing into Earth (Picture: Getty) What could happen is that Mercury would go off path, and collide with either the Sun or Venus. Then, this could lead either Venus or Mars to crash into Earth or the Earth to crash into the Sun. Another scenario is that Venus and Mars could fling out toward Jupiter, with the planet's gravity throwing Earth out of the Solar System altogether (Picture: Getty) Dr Kaib, who was the lead author, wrote: 'Our simulations indicate that isolated models of the solar system can underestimate the degree of our giant planets' future secular orbital changes by over an order of magnitude.' The work shows that astronomers may be overlooking the influence of distant objects and how our solar system interacts with the rest of the universe (Picture: Getty) Speaking to Science News, Dr Kaib revealed that there's about a 5% chance that over the next five billion years that a wayward star could come within 100 astronomical units of our solar system. This is around 100 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. But, there's no need to worry (Picture: Getty) Dr Kaib said to the site that 'none of these things are probable.' However, in the paper he writes: 'Nonetheless, this probability of Earth orbital change is hundreds of times larger than prior estimates.' They also note, that stars which move slowly, at less than 10 kilometers per second relative to the Sun, are risky as they will prolong their gravitational tugs on our planet (Picture: Getty)
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Scientists Fear a Passing Star Could Fling Earth Out of the Sun's Orbit, Into the Frigid Expanse Beyond
Scientists like to refer to our planet as residing in the "Goldilocks zone," where it's neither too hot nor too cold, and just the right distance away from the Sun to support life. But in the classic "Goldilocks" fairy tale, our eponymous protagonist is forced to flee from the bears' abode she rudely invited herself into, never to return. No more perfect porridges or adequately sized beds. That could be the case for Earth one day, if we are to exhaust this analogy. Instead of being booted out by unfriendly bears, however, we might be kicked to the curb by a passing star. Actually, an untimely eviction might be the good scenario. A new study published in the journal Icarus suggests that the gravity of an unmoored star could, like we mentioned, hurl us into the frigid expanse of space — or it could jumble the orbits of the other planets enough to send one of them crashing straight into Earth, delivered, all too belatedly, like a cosmic misericorde. Morbid as it is to envision our planet's demise, the work illustrates how our solar system, far from a sequestered island, is in tune with the rest of the universe, and that astronomers may be overlooking the influence of distant objects. "Our simulations indicate that isolated models of the solar system can underestimate the degree of our giant planets' future secular orbital changes by over an order of magnitude," wrote study lead author Nathan Kaib, an astronomer at the Planetary Science Institute, in the paper. Summarizing his latest findings, Kaib told Science News there's about a five percent chance — over the next five billion years — that a wayward star could come within 100 astronomical units of our solar system, or about 100 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Should that happen, all eyes should be on Mercury. In the researchers' simulations, Mercury's orbit could become so elliptical that it smacks into either the Sun or Venus. That, in turn, could cause Venus or Mars to careen into Earth — that is, if the gravitational havoc doesn't cause our planet to go the way of Icarus, instead. Barring that, Earth could be knocked in the direction of Jupiter, before the gas giant homers us into the void of interstellar space. There's a silver lining. "None of these things are probable," Kaib told Science News. There's only 0.2 percent chance of one these grim scenarios befalling Earth, in a generous window stretching billions of years. "Nonetheless, this probability of Earth orbital change is hundreds of times larger than prior estimates," Kaib emphasizes in the paper. Kaib previously published research which suggested that the Earth's orbit was altered by a passing star three million years ago, opening the possibility that events like these could have been responsible for historical fluctuations in the Earth's climate. At the same time, it's a slightly unsettling reminder of just how delicate the architecture of our galactic neck of the woods can be. "It's a little scary how vulnerable we may be to planetary chaos," Renu Malhotra, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona in Tucson who was not involved with the study, told Science News. More on astronomy: Scientists Detect Mysterious Object in Deep Solar System
