Simulation of a Stellar Flyby Shaping the Outer Solar System (VIDEO)
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Scientists at the Simulation and Data Lab Astronomy and Astrophysics at Forschungszentrum Jülich have carried out more than 3,000 computer simulations to find the cause of the unusual orbits of the transneptum objects. The young sun is surrounded by a disc of the material from which the planets eventually formed. There are several indications that the close flyby of another star could have disturbed this disc. The simulation shows how such a close flyby would have strongly influenced the orbits of the outer disc material. Many objects would have been thrown far out into space on eccentric orbits. While the outer solar system would have been completely restructured, the inner solar system, including our Earth, would have remained undisturbed.
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Forschungszentrum Jülich
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