Orange Dwarf Star Set to Smash into The Solar System

within the next 1.5 million years

Let's see how many get past the title.

A new set of star velocity data indicates that Gliese 710 has an 86 percent chance of ploughing into the Solar System within the next 1.5 million years.
The Solar System is surrounded by thousands of stars, but until recently it wasn't at all clear where they were all heading.
In 1997, however, astronomers published the Hipparcos Catalogue giving detailed position and velocity measurements of some 100,000 stars in our neighbourhood, all gathered by the European Space Agency's Hipparcos spacecraft. It's fair to say that the Hipparcos data has revolutionised our understanding of the 'hood.
In particular, this data allowed astronomers to work out which stars we'd been closer to in the past and which we will meet in the future. It turns out that 156 stars fall into this category and that the Sun has a close encounter with another star (meaning an approach within 1 parsec) every 2 million years or so.
In 2007, however, the Hipparcos data was revised and other measurements of star velocities have since become available. How do these numbers change the figures?
Today, Vadim Bobylev at the Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in St Petersburg gives us the answer. He's combined the Hipparcos data with several new databases and found an additional nine stars that have either had a close encounter with the Sun or are going to.
But he's also made a spectacular prediction. The original Hipparcos data showed that an orange dwarf star called Gliese 710 is heading our way and will arrive sometime within the next 1.5 million years.
Of course, trajectories are difficult to calculate when the data is poor so nobody has really been sure about what's going to happen.
What the new data has allowed Bobylev to do is calculate the probability of Gliese 710 smashing into the Solar System. What he's found is a shock.
He says there is 86 percent chance that Gliese 710 will plough through the Oort Cloud of frozen stuff that extends some 0.5 parsecs into space.
That may sound like a graze but it is likely to have serious consequences. Such an approach would send an almighty shower of comets into the Solar System which will force us to keep our heads down for a while. And a probability of 86 percent is about as close to certainty as this kind of data can get.
The good news is that Bobylev says the chances of Gliese 710 penetrating further into the Solar System, inside the Kuiper Belt, are much smaller, just 1 in a 1000. So that's all right, then.
Keep calm and carry on.
Ref: arxiv.org/abs/1003.2160: Searching for Stars Closely Encountering with the Solar System

SOURCE

[edit on 15-3-2010 by Watcher-In-The-Shadows]

Now seems like a real good time for this:

When in danger or in doubt,
Run in circles
Scream and shout!

-RA Heinlein

reply to post by Phage


And you sir did not read the OP. Because what they're talking about is said to maybe happen in 1.5 million years.

reply to post by Watcher-In-The-Shadows

You missed the subtle and sarcastic humor.

I read it.

I love it!

I saw this story earlier today.

Thank you for posting it

*runs in circles, screams and shouts* to Phage

oh thank god. i was about to freak if it was going to happen now.

Is it to early to stop, drop and roll?

reply to post by Azador


No but you should tell your descendent's descendent's descendent's descendent *give or take many more* to do it.

Well played, sir. I was rolling my eyes and wondering why "orange" had replaced "brown" when I clicked on the title.

I vote we try to get the AU to rename this "Nemesis" or "Nibiru", just to make the conspiracy seem even deeper.

Running in circles and screaming and shouting can really clear your head so that you can think clearly. It's like counting to 5 and breathing, but infinitely more fun.

reply to post by togetherwestand


Sorry about that I was being a little deceptive with the title. Also it was kind of a experiment.

reply to post by Watcher-In-The-Shadows


Maybe we should do the dropping for our descendants, so that they can simply roll and none of us have to stop!

reply to post by Phage


i like this thread!! lol great sense of humor lol!!

reply to post by Solasis


Good idea. Get it done for them.
This is a very naughty second line that must be whipped like the wretch it is.

reply to post by Watcher-In-The-Shadows


lol i was thinking maybe the world really would end on 2012, actually it was good thinking because it got me to think about what i would do now if i was going to die tomorrow, or at least 2 years from now.

thanks

[edit on 15-3-2010 by togetherwestand]

OMG111 Thats what gonna happen in 2012! Im gonna build a bunker, store guns...

They might be 1499998 years out.

Atleast we wont be here when the sun burns out!

[edit on 15-3-2010 by wayaboveitall]

Ha!!

I didn't get past your first sentence.

Thanks for the giggle.

ok ... so, I will go and read the rest of it ...

Edit - Ok read the thing ... I guess that means we better get our butts into gear so we can get to that big class 3 classification so we can deal with this upcoming mess

But maybe by that stage it will be more of a celebration than a disaster ... kind of like the feeling you get when you renovate your old home ...

[edit on 15/3/10 by Horza]

reply to post by Horza


No worries. It was quasi-experiment quasi-joke. There have been a few times that I really wondered if people read past the title so I wanted to test it out and when I saw this article I saw the perfect chance to do just that. And maybe get a few laughs.

The Human Race will be long gone by then. But thats a topic for another thread.

reply to post by wayaboveitall


i know, its just the thread title when read on the main page gave me a shock like holy # what if . boom. thats it. silence and its like flashes going through your head, pretty f@cking fun mental experience IMO! when i read the thread i knew what was up though.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

I am warning everyone...