March 29, 2024

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Our solar system is chaotic and unstable.  Only one planet holds the key to your survival

Our solar system is chaotic and unstable. Only one planet holds the key to your survival

The solar system looks like a stable and regular mechanism, almost like the largest clock in the world. But since we began to understand how gravity works and with it the orbits of planets, we realized that these interactions were very simple (which can be derived from a simple equation) and very complex (We also add items). If the problem is really complex, what would happen if the visitor went through this equation?


A matter of three centuries.
This is the question that I tried to answer A group of researchers from the University of Toronto: what would happen if an evil object with a star mass passed near our solar system, deviating the orbit of our farthest icy giant planet.

By answering it, they were able to better understand the role of his role Neptune In this gravitational cog of our solar system. And its role is fundamental despite its position at the ends of the list of planets in our system.

Apparently accurate gear.
The stability of the solar system is important for the Earth to remain habitable but we cannot take it for granted. Our system is messy, and small interactions and differences can have broad effects if given enough time: the so-called butterfly effect.

Gravitational interactions also have many effects. We’ve heard many times how Jupiter keeps us alive Safe from some asteroids while others throw at us. but the The importance of gravity For our survival it goes further, because the stability of the system depends on it.

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The destabilization of the solar system can have various repercussions. The mildest is the transition to a new equilibrium for our planet. The rest are catastrophic, such as the collision between our planet and another, the fall towards the sun or the expulsion from its orbit.

100,000 years of stability.
Leaving the planets to their own devices and with all the elements we have, the Applied Studies They calculated that we would have nothing to worry about for the next 100,000 years. Determining stability then is complicated by the complexity of our solar system. But that stability depends on everything staying on schedule. If an external force upsets this balance, the calculations will no longer be valid.

The central position of other planets (some much larger than Neptune) could cause them to generate more if their gravitational influence were altered. But if our solar system gets close to another massive element (such as a star), the object is likely to pass close to The outer regions of our system And not in the middle.

Put the focus on Neptune.
The research was published as an article in the journal Monthly notes of the Royal Astronomical Societythe draft is available as a rough draft in repositories like ArXiv s search portal. In it, they focus on the role of the oceanic giant, calculating what would happen if the impact of the star we crossed with the affected path of Neptune in the next 4.8 billion years.

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The upshot is that the stability of the solar system will be in check if the planet’s orbit changes. The team calculated the maximum deflection that the ice giant’s orbit could support without this change indicating destabilization of our entire system, with the result that a change of 0.1% magnitude was enough to destabilize the entire system.

possible results.
The article ran nearly 2,900 simulations that ended after a period of 4.8 billion years, either when the system became unbalanced causing collisions, or when some planets “escaped”). Collisions were more frequent between the inner planets of the solar system (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars), while “fugitives” in the simulations were more frequent between the outer planets. Simulations also showed a case in which the fleeing planet was Mercury.

In any case, due to the chaotic nature of the system, these results can be considered merely probabilities, making accurate predictions impossible in this case.

Do not worry.
As dangerous as the destabilization of the solar system is, there is no need to worry. The possibility of Neptune disappearing or exploding into bits is slim (maybe if the latter did happen, we’d already have enough to survive the impact of these bits). If the change in orbit is small, then we can assume that any impact on Earth would have to wait thousands of years.

But the main reason is that we don’t have any stars heading our way. The closest one is about four light-years away and not on a collision course with us. The stars are some of the brightest objects in our sky, so the chance of seeing them when they get close to us is much greater than others. see an asteroid.

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Less visible things.
The possibility of a meeting between Neptune and wandering planet It is also very rare because they would have to get very close to their gravity to change Neptune’s orbit by more than 0.1%.

The last massive object we could theoretically collide with would be a black hole. These make good ballots, because they are small relative to their mass and impossible to see directly because they absorb light. Moreover, it is very likely that there are “roaming” black holes in our galaxy.

however Undetectable. The gravitational effect of black holes is such that it deflects starlight, so one close enough would generate the kind of optical anomaly we can find.

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