Is THIS how the world will end? Scientists warn Earth could be flung out of orbit by a passing star - leaving humans to freeze to death

From Armageddon to the Day After Tomorrow, there have been plenty of Hollywood movies about how our world might end.
But if there is to be a global apocalypse, what might be to blame for wiping out all life on Earth?
Scientists believe they may finally have the answer - and it suggests we could face a grisly demise.
In a new study, researchers from the Planetary Science Institute and the University of Bordeaux predict that Earth could be flung out of orbit by a passing star.
And without our Sun there to keep us warm, this would leave any inhabitants - including humans - to freeze to death.
Thankfully, the chances of this happening are very low.
Over the next five billion years, the chance of Earth being flung out of orbit by a passing star is around one in 500, according to the team.
'We find a 0.3% chance that Mars will be lost through collision or ejection and a 0.2% probability that Earth will be involved in a planetary collision or ejected,' the team wrote in their study.
For decades, scientists have pondered how the Earth could end.
A wandering black hole, giant asteroid impact and nuclear war could all trigger catastrophic disasters, as could the rise of killer robots or the reversal of our planet's magnetic field.
In their new study, published in arXiv, Nathan Kaib and Sean Reynold set out to understand whether passing stars could be to blame.
'The long-term dynamical future of the Sun's planets has been simulated and statistically analyzed in great detail,' the pair explained.
'But most prior work considers the solar system as completely isolated, neglecting the potential influence of field star passages.'
To answer this question, the pair ran thousands of simuations of our solar system in the presence of passing stars over the next five billion years.
Worryingly, their simulations revealed that our solar system's eight planets - as well as dwarf planet, Pluto - are 'significantly less stable than previouly thought'.
Pluto faces the greatest risk of being lost through a collision or ejection, with the simulations revealing a five per cent chance.
Mars fares slightly better with a 0.3 per cent chance, while Earth has a 0.2 per cent chance of being flung out of the solar system.
As for the passing stars to be on the lookout for, the researchers predict that the most dangerous ones are those that come within 100 times as far from the sun as Earth is.
According to the simulations, there's about a five per cent chance of such a close encounter over the next five billion years.
'In summary, passing stars can alter the stability of the planets and Pluto as well as the secular architecture of the giant planets over the next 5 Gyrs [5 billion years,' the authors concluded.
'Their significance on the solar system's dynamical future largely depends on the strength of the most powerful stellar passage over this time span, which is uncertain by orders of magnitude.
'This uncertainty in the Sun's future powerful stellar encounters means that the spectrum of future secular evolution and planetary instabilities is broader than that implied by isolated models of solar system evolution.'

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Scotsman

2 hours ago

• Scotsman

Here's all you need to know about the summer solstice, including when the summer solstice is this year, why the date changes and what the weather forecast is.

Watch a Met Office video explaining the summer solstice - When is the summer solstice? Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The Met Office says the summer solstice occurs when the northern hemisphere is fully tilted towards the Sun. It is the longest day and shortest night of the year. Here's all you need to know about the summer solstice, including when the summer solstice is this year, why the date changes and what the weather forecast is. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Daniel Leal / AFP via Getty Images | Daniel Leal / AFP via Getty Images Is the summer solstice the start of summer? Meteorological summer began on June 1, and will end on August 31, as it does every year. However, the summer solstice is the start of astronomical summer, which will end on September 22 this year. When is the summer solstice? The summer solstice occurs on June 21 or June 22 each year. This year the summer solstice will be on June 21. Why does the date of the summer solstice change? According to the BBC, the exact date of the summer solstice changes slightly each year due to the calendar year not perfectly matching the time it takes for the Earth to orbit the Sun. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Is the summer solstice the latest sunset of the year? The summer solstice is the day with the most hours of daylight in the year, but it's not the latest sunset or the earliest sunrise. The earliest sunrises take place before the summer solstice, and the latest sunsets happen after. Is the summer solstice celebrated? Many people in the UK celebrate the summer solstice at Stonehenge. Stonehenge was built to align with the sun on the solstices. This year summer solstice will be celebrated at Stonehenge from 7pm on June 20 to 8am on June 21. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There will also be a solstice swim in Bridlington. The Flamborough Flippers are inviting people to join them for a swim in the sea, and ask people to try and be in the water at Bridlington's North Beach by 04:42 on June 21. In Scotland, Jupiter Artland in Edinburgh is running a summer solstice celebration evening, with activities such as sound baths, sunset swims and flower crown building. To find out more and to book tickets visit their website here . What is the forecast for the summer solstice? The Met Office UK weather forecast for summer solstice this year - June 21 - is: 'Hot and humid with sunny spells. Thundery showers moving north and east through the day, heaviest over northern England and Wales. Turning fresher from the west later.'

South Wales Guardian

4 hours ago

• South Wales Guardian

Nasa spacecraft around the Moon photographs crash site of Japanese lunar lander

Nasa released the pictures on Friday, two weeks after ispace's lander slammed into the moon. The images show a dark smudge where the lander, named Resilience, and its mini rover crashed into Mare Frigoris or Sea of Cold, a volcanic region in the moon's far north. As of 8:00 a.m. on June 6, 2025, mission controllers have determined that it is unlikely that communication with the lander will be restored and therefore completing Success 9, is not achievable. It has been decided to conclude the mission. 'Given that there is currently no… — ispace (@ispace_inc) June 6, 2025 A faint halo around the area was formed by the lunar dirt kicked up by the impact. Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the scene last week. The crash was the second failure in two years for Tokyo-based ispace. Company officials plan to hold a news conference next week to explain what doomed the latest mission, launched from Cape Canaveral in January.

North Wales Chronicle

4 hours ago

• North Wales Chronicle

Nasa spacecraft around the Moon photographs crash site of Japanese lunar lander

Nasa released the pictures on Friday, two weeks after ispace's lander slammed into the moon. The images show a dark smudge where the lander, named Resilience, and its mini rover crashed into Mare Frigoris or Sea of Cold, a volcanic region in the moon's far north. As of 8:00 a.m. on June 6, 2025, mission controllers have determined that it is unlikely that communication with the lander will be restored and therefore completing Success 9, is not achievable. It has been decided to conclude the mission. 'Given that there is currently no… — ispace (@ispace_inc) June 6, 2025 A faint halo around the area was formed by the lunar dirt kicked up by the impact. Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the scene last week. The crash was the second failure in two years for Tokyo-based ispace. Company officials plan to hold a news conference next week to explain what doomed the latest mission, launched from Cape Canaveral in January.