RE: What do you know today that you didn't know yesterday?
June 10, 2022 at 3:20 am
(This post was last modified: June 10, 2022 at 3:36 am by Anomalocaris.)
The star Gilese 710, about half the mass and size of the sun, and 1/10 as bright, is currently 67 light years from the sun and too dim to be visible to the naked eye. But in 1.1 million years, it is expected to pass within 0.13 light year of the sun. At its closest approach, it would be 25 times closer to the sun than the distance between the sun and the nearest star to the sun now.
It is estimated that a star comes this close to the sun only once every 100 million years on average.
During its closest approach Gilese 710 will be brighter in the sky than Venus, and will move across the sky by approximately the width of the full moon ever century.
The passage of Gilese 710 is expected to send a storm of comets into the inner solar solar system. During the peak of the comet storm, estimated to occur 2 million years after the closest passage of Gilese 710, naked eye comets will appear in the night sky at least 50 times more frequently than now. there will also be a substantial increase in the probability that the earth will be struck by sizable comets over a period of several million years.
It is estimated that a star comes this close to the sun only once every 100 million years on average.
During its closest approach Gilese 710 will be brighter in the sky than Venus, and will move across the sky by approximately the width of the full moon ever century.
The passage of Gilese 710 is expected to send a storm of comets into the inner solar solar system. During the peak of the comet storm, estimated to occur 2 million years after the closest passage of Gilese 710, naked eye comets will appear in the night sky at least 50 times more frequently than now. there will also be a substantial increase in the probability that the earth will be struck by sizable comets over a period of several million years.