asteroids has always been regarded as a terrifying threat by humans, and the frequency of their passing by the earth is particularly high. In 2021, the asteroid will fly by the earth more than 1,000 times.
Asteroids will fly by the Earth significantly more often in 2021
In fact, in addition to asteroids visiting the Earth, some stars in the universe are also very interested in us. For example, there is now a red dwarf star that is rapidly rushing towards the solar system. After observation, we found that the time it left us may be about 1.4 million years.
So, who is this red dwarf star hurtling toward Earth? What impact will its arrival bring?
Red Dwarf Stars in the Universe
Most people do not understand the basic types of stars and think that all stars in the universe are the same. But in fact, based on the spectrum and their sizes, we can divide them into multiple categories. Our sun has a spectrum of G2V, so it is a yellow dwarf with a lifespan of about 10 billion years.
The spectrum of the sun is G2V
. However, yellow dwarfs do not account for a large proportion of stars. The real big ones are the red dwarfs we are introducing today.
According to the data, this guy is the most common star in the universe. About 73% of the stars are red dwarfs, and about 85% of the stars near the sun are red dwarfs.
The red dwarf star is not big, its mass and diameter are less than one-third of the sun. And compared with other siblings in the main sequence star stage, the surface temperature of red dwarf stars is lower and the light emitted is weaker, which causes them to often appear "dim".
The mass and diameter of red dwarfs are much smaller than that of the sun.
Of course, this is because the way of survival pursued by red dwarfs is obviously different from that of other stars. It slows down the nuclear fusion inside it, making it less "luminous and heat" than other stars, but it also makes its lifespan longer .
It is reported that most red dwarf stars can maintain stable luminosity and spectrum, and can last for about hundreds of billions of years. They are veritable "longevity stars" in the universe.
Red dwarf stars generally have a long life span
Because of this, people only become worried when they find a red dwarf star in the constellation Serpens heading towards the solar system. Because even though it is currently about 63.8 light-years away from the Earth, its long lifespan still allows it to reach the solar system before "aging". And this is not a good thing for the solar system and the earth.
Gliese 710 is heading towards the solar system
The red dwarf star that is charging towards the solar system is called Gliese 710 (Gliese710) . Its spectral type is K7Vk, visual magnitude is 9.69, and it is a star that uses hydrogen in its core to perform thermonuclear fusion to supply energy. According to the current observation data, the mass of is about 60% of the mass of and of the sun, and the radius is about 67% of the sun.
Relevant data characteristics of Gliese 710
It is not difficult to see that there is still a clear gap between the size of Gliese 710 and the sun. Among the red dwarfs, it is actually not special and does not have many characteristics that attract human attention. Why does
say this?
Because in recent years, humans have screened most stars in the universe and found many "super Earths", and the main sequence stars of these super Earths are often red dwarfs. However, Gliese 710 is not like other super-Earth main sequence stars, because whether it has planets around it has always been a mystery.
We don’t know whether there are planets around this star.
It can be seen from this that the reason why people include this star as a key concern has nothing to do with whether it can help "breed life", but has to do with its trajectory. As we mentioned in the previous article, the distance between and the earth is about 63.8 light years. This distance is actually relatively safe.
But the problem is that this guy is obviously not willing to just stay where he is, so he keeps moving towards the solar system. According to current estimates, it may pass through the Oort Cloud, the outermost part of the solar system, in 1.35 million years, and then make close contact with us in 1.4 million years.
Gliese710 may eventually pass through the Oort cloud and have a close contact with the solar system.
How close is this close contact?
Based on the measurement data of the Hipparcos satellite launched by the European Space Agency, it will arrive at the closest place to us in 1.4 million years, and the distance may be less than 1 light-year . By then, the luminosity of this dim red dwarf star will be improved, even reaching the brightness of a 1st magnitude star, becoming as bright as Antares.
It is worth mentioning that people have different opinions on when this guy will break into the Oort cloud or even fly across the solar system, and they have been updating it based on changes in data.
People are still studying the flight time status of Gliese710
For example, in December 2020, a scholar published an article titled "Update on Gliese 710's Future Flyby Using Gaia EDR3: Slightly Closer and Slightly Later" in an academic journal called "X-MOL".
This article confirms that among all the stars known to mankind, no one is closer to the sun than Gliese 710. After analysis using the latest data, they believe that the real arrival date of the Gliese 710 may be slightly later than the estimated arrival time previously given.
In short, no matter how the data is updated and changed, its arrival time is basically 1.4 million years later, and when it arrives, the solar system may face an unavoidable disaster.
Gliese710 will not arrive in the solar system for at least 1.4 million years.
So, is Gliese710 really an uninvited guest?
What impact will it have?
In fact, everyone will be very nervous when mentioning the unexpected visit of an asteroid, because unlike other desolate planets, the earth that breeds a large number of life has made itself successful, but it also has "weaknesses". A slight disturbance may have a huge impact on the environment and life on earth.
As a star, although Gliese 710 is small, its impact is definitely greater than that of an asteroid, because if it is too close, it will have a serious impact on celestial bodies in fixed positions in the solar system.
Celestial objects hitting the earth will definitely cause great damage.
According to the data, may be the second most perturbing star in the solar system within 10 million years, causing a large number of comets in the Oort cloud to change their orbits and rush towards the inner solar system.
Astronomers Filip Berski and Piotr Dybczyński has made such an evaluation, "This event will be the most destructive encounter in the future and in the history of the solar system."
It can be seen from this that if the unexpected visit of an asteroid only targets individuals, then the intrusion of Gliese 710 will cause asteroids or comets that are originally in a stable state to enter a "manic state" and begin to swarm toward the inner solar system.
The intrusion of Gliese 710 may drive other celestial bodies
At that time, even if the big brother Jupiter is helping the earth withstand the pressure, there will still be a large number of fish that slip through the net. In this case, the earth may often face the risk of being beaten into a "sieve", which is not a good thing for us.
You must know that every time the earth encounters an asteroid impact in history, the entire earth's ecology has to be reshuffled. Even the dinosaurs that have dominated the earth for more than 100 million years cannot escape the sanctions of such a disaster. Therefore, the "coming from afar" of Gliese 710 will bring a huge threat, and with our current strength, there is no way to change its direction and trajectory.
Even the dinosaurs cannot avoid this disaster, and it is very unlikely that humans will solve the threat.
Because even intervening on asteroids is something that humans have only begun to try in recent years. It is undoubtedly fanciful to attempt to interfere with such a star. Of course, most people are relatively optimistic about this matter. After all, who knows what the earth will look like in 1.4 million years, and how long will humans be "extinct"?
Perhaps before Gliese 710 visited the solar system, we had already found a new home and completed the interstellar immigration plan. In that case, its gravitational disturbance will not pose any threat to humans. In short, there is still time and everything is possible!
Humanity may realize interstellar immigration in the future
