Gliese 710, or HIP 89825, is an orange 0.6 M☉ star in the constellation Serpens Cauda. It is projected to pass near the Sun in about 1.29 million years at a predicted minimum distance of 0.1663 light-years (10,520 astronomical units) (about 160 billion km) -- about 1/25th of the current distance to Proxima Centauri.
Such a distance would make for a similar brightness to the brightest planets, optimally reaching an apparent visual magnitude of about −2.7 (brighter than Mars at opposition). The star's proper motion will peak around one arcminute per year, a rate of apparent motion that would be noticeable over a human lifespan. This is a timeframe, based on data from Gaia DR3, well within the parameters of current models which cover the next 15 million years. And since its trajectory passes thru the oort cloud, an increased cometary activity within our solar system can be expected...
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Remember, if a star passes through our Oort cloud, that means we're passing through its Oort cloud. Expect a huge uptick in meteor activity, with a possibility of planet killers.
ReplyDelete"... in about 1.29 million years ..."
DeleteWe won't have to worry about it, humanity will be long-extinct by then.
ReplyDeleteInteresting.
ReplyDeleteMore than a million years down the road, but this would be a viable opportunity for mankind to jump to another solar system, assuming it has habitable planets. That distance would be much easier to travel than the distances we currently must travel to visit another solar system.
ReplyDeleteJust because a star is headed this way doesn't mean we will encounter it's exos if this star has any.
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