The Sun’s gravitational pull may be able to trap objects approaching the Solar System, including interstellar comets and even stray planets from 3.8 light-years away. This amount of solar influence makes our solar system much larger than previously thought.
The extent of the gravitational influence of our sun on the galaxy is not known; But it seems to have extended at least as far as the Everett Cloud. This globular cloud consists of trillions of icy masses that surround the Sun at a distance of more than a light-year and is sometimes considered the outer boundary of the Solar System.
In a new study, Edward Belbruno of Yeshiva University in New York and James Green, a physicist and former chief scientist at NASA, set out to investigate whether our Sun can also trap more distant objects in its gravitational trap. By modeling our star and the space around it, researchers have shown that there is a region 3.8 light years away that may be under the influence of the sun.
The researchers’ calculations identify locations of gravitational balance, known as Lagrangian points, in the medium between the Sun and the center of the galaxy.
The researchers’ calculations identify locations of gravitational balance, known as Lagrangian points, in the medium between the Sun and the center of the galaxy. There are such points in our own solar system where the gravitational attraction of the earth and the sun reaches a balance. These points are used to keep spacecraft such as the James Webb Space Telescope in a fixed position.
For the outer solar system, there will be two entry points where the Sun and the galactic influence fields interact to bring objects into eccentric orbits around the Sun.
According to Belbruno, approaching objects are placed in elliptical orbits that follow a bumpy path over time similar to Mandelbrot’s sets (a fractal pattern with endless swirls and symmetrical shapes). Trapped objects will remain in this orbit essentially forever; Unless other gravitational influences, such as the pull of Proxima Centauri, our nearest red dwarf, just 4.2 light-years from the Sun, pull them out of the Sun’s domain.
Green says the identified area is scientifically interesting; Because it can trap certain objects like wandering planets. These planets are starless worlds that move freely through space. Also, interstellar comets and asteroids such as Omu’amoa, which entered the solar system in 2017, may be trapped by the Sun.
According to Green, stray planets could disrupt everything in the inner solar system if they were headed our way; As a result, he believes that we should look for planets in the Lagrangian points of our Sun that may pass through.
Calculating the orbit of a body under the gravitational pull of the Sun and the center of the galaxy is an example of the three-body problem; An astronomical mystery that inspired the science fiction novel of the same name by Chinese author Liu Sishin and its new TV series.
Simon Porthuis-Zwart of Leiden University in the Netherlands describes the fractal shape of the circuits obtained in the researchers’ paper as a “truly original” mathematical effort. “They define orbits in three-body, fractal, chaotic environments,” he says. “I have never seen it before.” However, Porthis-Zwart is unsure about the region’s ability to trap planets.
However, Green says it would be worth exploring the identified region in the future with facilities such as the Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile to look for any objects that might be trapped there. If the existence of such objects is confirmed, the actual sphere of influence of our sun may be proved to be far beyond the limit of previously thought. Belbruno says he has no problem saying that the boundary of our solar system is 3.81 light years.
The researchers’ article has been published in the archive database.
