A report on Earth.com suggests that the boundaries of our solar system were stretched by a strange force, something that flew by. Astrophysicist Susanne Pfalzner of Forschungszentrum Jülich, has discovered that a stellar flyby caused the occurrence and the edges of the solar system are beyond where they once were.

Pfalzner notes that several objects beyond the orbit of Neptune move on eccentric orbits.

“Several thousand celestial bodies are known to move beyond the orbit of Neptune,” said Pfalzner. “Surprisingly, many of these so-called trans-Neptunian objects move on eccentric orbits that are inclined relative to the common orbital plane of the planets in the solar system.“

Pfalzner and her student, Amith Govind and Simon Portegies Zwart from Leiden University, say that some force might have lifted trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) from the disk where they originally formed and altered their orbits.

To learn more about what could have moved these objects from their orbits, the team conducted 3,000 simulations. They tried to understand whether another star caused this to happen.&nbsp;

They found that this was a possibility and a close flyby of another star is likely to blame for the way the TNOs move. The researchers added that this star might also be responsible for the movement of some known TNOs, such as the dwarf planet Sedna which was discovered in 2003.

Other objects with bizarre orbits are 2008 KV42 and 2011 KT19 which move almost perpendicular to Neptune's orbit.&nbsp;

“The best match for today’s outer solar system is a star slightly lighter than our Sun – about 0.8 solar masses,” Govind said.

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“This star passed our Sun at a distance of around 16.5 billion kilometres – about 110 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun, or just under four times the distance to Neptune.”

<h2>Implications for future studies</h2>

The finding has opened up a new avenue for astronomers to understand how stellar flybys affect other bodies, and whether these might have shaped the orbits of celestial bodies residing in our solar system and beyond.

Flybys of other similar stars might have led some trans-Neptunian objects to be flung towards the inner solar system to become the moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.&nbsp;

“Some of these objects could have been captured by the giant planets as moons,” said Portegies Zwart. “This would explain why the outer planets of our solar system have two different types of moons.”

A report on Earth.com suggests that the boundaries of our solar system were stretched by a strange force, something that flew by. Astrophysicist Susanne Pfalzner of Forschungszentrum Jülich, has discovered that a stellar flyby caused the occurrence and the edges of the solar system are beyond where they once were.

A report on Earth.com suggests that the boundaries of our solar system were stretched by a strange force, something that flew by. Astrophysicist Susanne Pfalzner of Forschungszentrum Jülich, has discovered that a stellar flyby caused the occurrence and the edges of the solar system are beyond where they once were. Pfalzner notes that several objects beyond the orbit of Neptune move on eccentric orbits. “Several thousand celestial bodies are known to move beyond the orbit of Neptune,” said Pfalzner. “Surprisingly, many of these so-called trans-Neptunian objects move on eccentric orbits that are inclined relative to the common orbital plane of the planets in the solar system.“ Pfalzner and her student, Amith Govind and Simon Portegies Zwart from Leiden University, say that some force might have lifted trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) from the disk where they originally formed and altered their orbits. To learn more about what could have moved these objects from their orbits, the team conducted 3,000 simulations. They tried to understand whether another star caused this to happen. They found that this was a possibility and a close flyby of another star is likely to blame for the way the TNOs move. The researchers added that this star might also be responsible for the movement of some known TNOs, such as the dwarf planet Sedna which was discovered in 2003. Other objects with bizarre orbits are 2008 KV42 and 2011 KT19 which move almost perpendicular to Neptune's orbit. “The best match for today’s outer solar system is a star slightly lighter than our Sun – about 0.8 solar masses,” Govind said. Also Read: North American lake fills up with toxins-releasing algae visible from space “This star passed our Sun at a distance of around 16.5 billion kilometres – about 110 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun, or just under four times the distance to Neptune.” Implications for future studies The finding has opened up a new avenue for astronomers to understand how stellar flybys affect other bodies, and whether these might have shaped the orbits of celestial bodies residing in our solar system and beyond. Flybys of other similar stars might have led some trans-Neptunian objects to be flung towards the inner solar system to become the moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. “Some of these objects could have been captured by the giant planets as moons,” said Portegies Zwart. “This would explain why the outer planets of our solar system have two different types of moons.”

Invisible force zoomed through solar system and threw off objects from their orbit

Scientists have time and again emphasised how the sun will become boiling hot in around a billion years and all the oceans present on Earth will be dried and eventually, the existence of life will come to an end. 
 
Till now, scientists have believed that the fate of life on Earth has been more or less definitive. However, a new theory has emerged which suggests that a rogue star passing close to the planet may be able to save Earth. 
 
As per a new study carried out by scientists from the University of Bordeaux, France, and the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, the passing star can turn out to be an unlikely saviour. 
 
More than 12,000 simulations were run by the researchers to understand what can happen if a star passes within 100 astronomical units (about 9.3 billion miles) from Earth.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/earth-will-collide-with-moon-this-is-what-a-rogue-star-can-do-to-our-solar-system-664214">A rogue star can send Earth smashing into Moon, wiping out all life, study finds</a>

After creating the simulations, the scientists observed that the solar system is remarkably stable. In around 92 per cent of cases, it was observed that the solar system would remain almost intact even if a star passed by the solar system. 
 
"I thought more would happen," said Sean Raymond, who is a study author from the University of Bordeaux in France, while speaking to New Scientist. "It's really not that easy to mess with planets' orbits – a star has to get really into another star's business to mess with its planets,” he added.

<h2>A slim chance to save Earth</h2>

In a blog post, Raymond said, “Still, there's a chance the passing star could pull our planet out of harm's way – albeit a slim one. In 0.28 per cent of the simulations, the star pulled the Earth out of its orbit and into a more temperate region.” 
 
In a few simulations, Earth remained inside the solar system, however, the planet was pulled to a region beyond Pluto which is about 10 per cent cooler compared to our current orbit. 
 
In other simulations, the planet was pushed into interstellar space and it got placed in the Oort cloud which is around 2 billion light years away, or became a free-floating planet in space. 
 
In the blog post, Raymon said, “As bizarre as it might seem, this may not be the worst-case scenario. It is much harder to un-roast a fried planet than to heat up a frozen world.”

Watch:&nbsp;European Space Agency released first images taken by Euclid's telescope

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/european-space-agency-released-first-images-taken-by-euclids-telescope-656604/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

"If they possess modestly thick hydrogen atmospheres, free-floating planets can trap enough heat to maintain liquid water on the surface," he added. 
 
There is just a one per cent chance of a star flying by our solar system in the next billion years, and as per the simulations, a 1 in 350 chance of Earth getting kicked into a habitable orbit. 
 
"So taken together, that's a 1 in 35,000 chance that the long-term prospects for life on Earth will be rescued by a passing star," added Raymond. 
 
"That's about the same odds as randomly pulling the ace of spades from two separate decks of cards while also rolling a combined 10 with two dice. Not the best odds," he said.

(With inputs from agencies)

Scientists have time and again emphasised how the sun will become boiling hot in around a billion years and all the oceans present on Earth will be dried and eventually, the existence of life will come to an end.

Scientists have time and again emphasised how the sun will become boiling hot in around a billion years and all the oceans present on Earth will be dried and eventually, the existence of life will come to an end. Till now, scientists have believed that the fate of life on Earth has been more or less definitive. However, a new theory has emerged which suggests that a rogue star passing close to the planet may be able to save Earth. As per a new study carried out by scientists from the University of Bordeaux, France, and the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, the passing star can turn out to be an unlikely saviour. More than 12,000 simulations were run by the researchers to understand what can happen if a star passes within 100 astronomical units (about 9.3 billion miles) from Earth. Also read: A rogue star can send Earth smashing into Moon, wiping out all life, study finds After creating the simulations, the scientists observed that the solar system is remarkably stable. In around 92 per cent of cases, it was observed that the solar system would remain almost intact even if a star passed by the solar system. "I thought more would happen," said Sean Raymond, who is a study author from the University of Bordeaux in France, while speaking to New Scientist. "It's really not that easy to mess with planets' orbits – a star has to get really into another star's business to mess with its planets,” he added. A slim chance to save Earth In a blog post, Raymond said, “Still, there's a chance the passing star could pull our planet out of harm's way – albeit a slim one. In 0.28 per cent of the simulations, the star pulled the Earth out of its orbit and into a more temperate region.” In a few simulations, Earth remained inside the solar system, however, the planet was pulled to a region beyond Pluto which is about 10 per cent cooler compared to our current orbit. In other simulations, the planet was pushed into interstellar space and it got placed in the Oort cloud which is around 2 billion light years away, or became a free-floating planet in space. In the blog post, Raymon said, “As bizarre as it might seem, this may not be the worst-case scenario. It is much harder to un-roast a fried planet than to heat up a frozen world.” Watch: European Space Agency released first images taken by Euclid's telescope "If they possess modestly thick hydrogen atmospheres, free-floating planets can trap enough heat to maintain liquid water on the surface," he added. There is just a one per cent chance of a star flying by our solar system in the next billion years, and as per the simulations, a 1 in 350 chance of Earth getting kicked into a habitable orbit. "So taken together, that's a 1 in 35,000 chance that the long-term prospects for life on Earth will be rescued by a passing star," added Raymond. "That's about the same odds as randomly pulling the ace of spades from two separate decks of cards while also rolling a combined 10 with two dice. Not the best odds," he said. (With inputs from agencies)

Can a rogue star save Earth from its destined extinction? Scientists say...

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