Scholz's star passed through the Oort cloud

In summary, the article discusses the closest known flyby of a star to the solar system, which occurred 70,000 years ago. The star, called Scholz's star, is much smaller than the sun and passed within 0.8 light years of the sun with a 98% probability. This observation suggests that external bodies, such as Scholz's star, may perturb objects in the Oort cloud and cause them to change their trajectory and potentially result in long-period comet showers. This event could have happened before with more dramatic results, as Scholz's star was too far away to impact the inner Oort cloud.
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Eric E. Mamajek, Scott A. Barenfeld, Valentin D. Ivanov, Alexei Y. Kniazev, Petri Väisänen, Yuri Beletsky, Henri M. J. Boffin. THE CLOSEST KNOWN FLYBY OF A STAR TO THE SOLAR SYSTEM. The Astrophysical Journal, 2015; 800 (1): L17 DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/800/1/L17

The Science Daily article discusses the observation (with 98% probability) that analysis of the trajectory of Scholz's star (a tiny nearby star with 8% the mass of the sun) passed within 0.8 lightyears of the sun 70000 years ago.

This relates to the concept of Oort cloud perturbations by external bodies causing Oort cloud objects to change trajectory and orbit much closer to the sun. Sort of a looong period comet shower. From our point of view anyway. The reasoning goes, it appears possible to have happened previously with more dramatic results, since Scholz's star apparently was too far away to impact the inner Oort cloud. (my version of the article's comments).
 
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1. What is Scholz's star?

Scholz's star is a dim red dwarf star that was discovered in 2013. It is located in the constellation of Monoceros and is estimated to be about 20 light years away from Earth.

2. What is the Oort cloud?

The Oort cloud is a hypothesized spherical cloud of icy objects that is believed to surround our solar system. It is thought to extend from about 2,000 to 200,000 astronomical units (AU) from the sun.

3. How did Scholz's star pass through the Oort cloud?

Scholz's star is believed to have passed through the Oort cloud about 70,000 years ago. It likely came within about 0.8 light years of our sun, which is relatively close in astronomical terms.

4. What effects did Scholz's star passing through the Oort cloud have?

The gravitational pull of Scholz's star may have disturbed the orbits of some objects in the Oort cloud, causing them to potentially enter our solar system. However, there is no evidence that this actually occurred.

5. Could Scholz's star pass through the Oort cloud again?

It is highly unlikely that Scholz's star will pass through the Oort cloud again. The chances of a star passing through the Oort cloud are very low, and the next predicted encounter with another star is not expected for at least another 240,000 years.

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