Strange star discovered entering the solar system

Research by American scientists shows that a red dwarf star once passed through the solar system at a close distance 70,000 years ago.

Simulation of a red dwarf star that flew through the solar system 70,000 years ago. Photo: University of Rochester

The star is called WISE J072003.20-084651.2, or Scholz. It is currently about 20 light-years away from us, in the constellation Monoceros (the Unicorn).

According to a team of experts from the University of Rochester, it and its "companion" a brown dwarf star passed the Sun 70,000 years ago, moving through comets in the outer ring of the Oort cloud (surrounding the Solar System). The star appeared at a distance of 0.8 light years, the closest approach that scientists have ever recorded.

"Radial velocity measurements show that it appears to have flown out from the vicinity of the Sun. We realized that this star must have passed very close by in the past," NBC News quoted Eric Mamajek, the study's lead author, as saying.

Scholz is said to be too faint to be seen with the naked eye from Earth. However, according to Mamajek and his colleagues, human ancestors in Africa may have seen the phenomenon of magnetic sparks.

Scientists became interested in the star's orbit after discovering it was moving at high speed. They calculated Scholz's relative motion based on observations from telescopes in South Africa and Chile.

According to VnExpress