The universe is always moving. While we’ve found evidence of rogue black holes and planets, new research suggests that a passing star could be out there somewhere. Unfortunately, If it were to swing too close to our solar system, it might just send our planet hurtling into the sun. It could even eject Earth out of the solar system completely.
Now, the chances of this happening aren’t exactly zero, but they aren’t high either. But it is something that researchers have been looking into. According to a new study published in the journal Icarus, if a passing star were to swing by our solar system, it could potentially cause a lot more havoc than some have previously estimated.
By far the worst possibilities of what could happen include Earth being ejected from the solar system entirely, or even the planet being spun back into the Sun. Of course, these are obviously worse case scenarios, and none of this is to say that it will absolutely happen. But we’ve long known that the universe was a bit of an unpredictable place. It’s why NASA and others have been working so hard on things like asteroid defense systems.
The reason that a passing star would cause so much chaos is because of the additional gravitational pull that it would bring to the area. This could cause instability in a several of our planets. In fact, the researchers argue that over the next several billion years, passing stars could make our outer planets’ orbits more unstable. If that happens, it would likely affect all of our solar system’s planets.
Some research has even estimated that the existence of another planet between Mars and Jupiter might have kicked Earth out of orbit, had it ever existed.
We’ve seen this concern discussed quite extensively throughout the years, with some even noting that even a small shift in Jupiter’s orbit could lead to bizarre consequences for Earth’s orbit. Considering our planet is the only one we’ve ever discovered that lies within the “habitable zone” of a star, any change in the orbit could have massive consequences for humanity and its future. Luckily, we’ll probably see any star coming before it gets close enough to eject Earth.
