- Alpha Centauri is the star system closest to our solar system, and it is likely that particles could go towards or already be in our stellar district.
- To find out what to expect, researchers have used existing models to predict how many particles of different sizes can already exist in the solar system and may come from Alpha Centauri each year.
- The study of the ejection and the transfer of particles of Alpha Centauri could tell us more about the way in which the material is exchanged between the star systems.
While interstellar objects (‘OumamuaSomeone?) Weren’t going through our Solar system Before, the origins of many of these objects remain unknown. Are they from a star system? A distant? A completely different galaxy?
Unfortunately, it is not currently possible to follow ‘Oumuamua Down for a more in -depth study. It is highly eccentric orbit I go too far for any spacecraft to reach or observe any telescope to observe. But that does not mean that we do not have interstellar subjects available for the study – in fact, it turns out that we already have a lot of particles from another star system.
The stellar system closest to us is the triple system Alpha Centauri. It is currently approaching our solar system at 79,000 km per hour (around 49,709 MPH), and should be at its closest in around 27,700 years. In this spirit, researchers Cole Gregg and Paul Wiegert of the University of West Ontario have decided to see how many alpha Centauri objects could have already arrived at us, and how many could possibly get there here ‘future.
“A small number (less than 10 meteors) can currently enter the earth’s atmosphere each year,” said Gregg and Wiegert in a study that will soon be published in the Journal of planetary sciences,, “(And) should increase as Alpha Centauri is approaching.”
Alpha Centauri is a system of mature stars, 5 billion years old. This means that most of the materials of the protoplanetary disc of this system have probably already dissipated, so it should not free up a lot of debris in space (although there can be system material in our asteroid belt and our distant Oort cloud). That said, the gravitational forces of more stars and planets make it more likely that the equipment is dispersed, and there can be planets in orbit around its three stars (although none has yet been confirmed).
To find out if Alpha Centauri could currently eject equipment, researchers have turned to existing models in the way the star systems generally eject debris. The models predicted that, despite the small number of alpha Centauri objects which should Earth Each year, there could be up to a million objects of excessive size in diameter of the system which are already hidden in our oort cloud (many smaller objects and particles can also be among them).
The problem is that the Oort cloud is on the outside edge of the solar system. It would make potential alpha cantauri objects – if they are really somewhere in there – to observe. However, it would not be impossible. NASA’s New Horizons Mission has an actively dust detector picking up the particles In the Kuiper belt which could have been left to the formation of our solar system. The Oort cloud is even further, but despite a diet to decrease fuel, New horizons Perhaps able to hold long enough to go out and seek the presence of something alpha Centauri.
That said, the presence of these objects is not certain. There is also the problem of smaller particles of Alpha Centauri not surviving travel to the solar system. They could be deflected by magnetic fieldsSlow down considerably due to the drag in the interstellar environment, or end up decimating by gas atoms or extremely fast collisions with each other.
For all the particles that survive and manage to enter the inner solar system, the SunSeverity will considerably increase their speed. Even more particles could come from hypothetical comets – at least, they could so alpha centauri eject as much as our solar system – but it is unlikely that it is observed. It remains to be seen if these potential particles are really detectable.
“A in -depth understanding of the mechanisms by which the equipment could be transferred from Alpha Centauri to the solar system deepens not only our knowledge of interstellar transport,” said researchers in the same study, “but also opens up new ways to explore the ‘ interconnectivity of the stellar system and potential for exchange materials through the galaxy. “”
Elizabeth Rayne is a creature that writes. His work appeared in Ars Technica, Syfy Wire, Space.com, Live Science, Den of Geek, Forbidden Futures and Collective Tales. She hides just outside New York with her parrot, Lestat. When he does not write, you can find it by drawing, playing the piano or in shape.