So, stars are a lot more mobile than I expected. đ Hopefully, it doesnât cause too much damage next time it happens, if humans are still here by then.
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 Earthâs night sky, as well as knocks distant comets loose from their orbits.
The most famous of these stellar interlopers is called Scholzâs 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 Scholzâs Star could have sent some of these objects tumbling into the inner solar system when it passed.
However, Scholzâs 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. Scholzâs Star wasnât the first flyby, and it wonât be the last. In fact, weâre on track for a much more dramatic close encounter in the not-too-distant future.