stellar flyby
A Stellar Flyby Jumbled Up the Outer Solar System
An ancient passerby may have visited the Sun and inadvertently helped shape the Solar System into what it is today.…
Where Are All These Rogue Planets Coming From?
There's a population of planets that drifts through space untethered to any stars. They're called rogue planets or free-floating planets…
What Would Happen to Earth if a Rogue Star Came Too Close?
Stars are gravitationally fastened to their galaxies and move in concert with their surroundings. But sometimes, something breaks the bond.…
Stellar Flybys Leave a Permanent Mark on Newly Forming Planetary Systems
What do UX Tauri, RW Aurigae, AS 205, Z CMajoris, and FU Orionis have in common? They're young stellar systems…
Astronomers See a Star Crash Through the Planetary Disk of Another Star
What causes an otherwise unremarkable star to become over 100 times brighter? That's a question astronomers have been pondering since…
In 1.3 Million Years, a Star Will Come Within 24 Light-Days of the Sun
Using data from the Gaia Observatory, a team of Russian scientists have concluded that a star will make a close…
In the Far Future, Stellar Flybys Will Completely Dismantle the Solar System
Consumption and disintegration. Next time you want to be the life of the party—if you're hanging out with cool nerds…
At the Heart of the Milky Way, Stars Come Close to Each Other All the Time
A new study provides new estimates on how often stars near the center of our galaxy experience "close encounters," which…