Scholz's star facts for kids
Scholz's star is a star that is quite close to our Solar System. About 70,000 years ago, it flew right through the edge of our Solar System's Oort cloud. This star is also known as WISE 0720-0846.
Scholz's star is actually a binary star system. This means it is made of two stars orbiting each other. It is currently about 16.6 to 23.5 light-years away from the Sun. You can find it in the southern constellation called Monoceros. This constellation is near the Galactic plane, which is the main disk of our Milky Way galaxy.
The main star in the system is a red dwarf. It is much smaller and cooler than our Sun. This red dwarf has about 86 times the mass of Jupiter. The second star is likely a T5 brown dwarf. A brown dwarf is a "failed star." It's too big to be a planet but too small to start nuclear fusion like a true star.
Together, these two stars have a total mass of about 0.15 solar masses. This means they are about 15% as massive as our Sun. Scholz's star is very dim, with an apparent magnitude of 18.3. This makes it impossible to see without a powerful telescope. Scientists believe the system is between 3 and 10 billion years old.
What is the Oort Cloud?
The Oort cloud is a huge, icy shell surrounding our Solar System. It's like a giant bubble of icy objects. These objects are leftovers from when our Solar System formed. The Oort cloud is very far away, much further than the planets.
It is thought to be the home of many comets. These comets usually stay in the Oort cloud. But sometimes, something can disturb them.
Scholz's Star's Close Encounter
Scientists believe a star passes through the Oort cloud every 100,000 years or so. When Scholz's star flew through, it was very close. It was only about 0.8 light-years away from the Sun. This is much closer than the nearest star to us today, Proxima Centauri.
When a star passes through the Oort cloud, its gravity can pull on the icy objects there. This can send some comets hurtling towards the inner Solar System. If comets were disturbed by Scholz's star, it would take them about two million years to reach us.
See also
In Spanish: Estrella de Scholz para niños
