Will It Be A Star To Wipe Us Out In The Next Few Million Years?

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In a study published by the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics in November 2016, researchers have found that a star called Gliese 710 is heading towards our solar system at the speed of about 32,000 mph. At this rate, it should reach us in the next 1.35 million years. Though the star is not expected to collide with the earth head-on, it is likely to set off a shower of comets and icy objects towards us which may collide with our planet.

The scientists from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland calculated that the star is about 64 light-years away from us right now. They used measurements from the Gaia Space Observatory that belongs to the European Space Agency. At the new observatory, the largest and most precise 3D space catalog is being made, which will cover about 1 billion astronomical objects and help in making predictions ten times more accurate than before.

The Business Insider reported that Gliese 710 is not too small either - it is about half the size of our sun.

When the star is closest to the Earth, it might just be 77 light-days away. With an error rate of around 50%, it is possible that it will whizz past us at just 40 light-days away.

The Forbes reported that Filip Berski and Piotr Dybczński (co-authors of the paper) wrote that Gliese 710 is in the constellation of Serpens right now, and will have the strongest influence on the objects of Oort Cloud in the next ten million years. These comets will come close to us in a period of about two million years.

If we remain safe, we should be able to see about ten comets every year - for the next 3 to 4 million years.

Some scientists believe that a similar event of a star passing through the Oort cloud had occurred 65 million years ago. It triggered the asteroid which resulted in the extinction of dinosaurs from the face of the Earth.