Much larger than we thought. New calculations show that the boundaries of the solar system need to be expanded

Until now, scientists have believed that the solar system ends in a hypothetical Oort cloud located at a distance of just over one light year from the Sun. However, a new study by American scientists may radically change this idea.

Edward Belbruno of Yeshiva University in New York and James Green, a former chief scientist at NASA, have created a mathematical model that has identified a region 3.81 light-years away from the Sun where space objects can still be affected by its gravitational influence. The results of the study published on the website of the electronic archive of preprints arXiv.

The scientists used computer modeling to investigate the interaction between the gravitational forces of the Sun and the center of the Galaxy. They found two regions where objects behave similarly to Lagrangian pointsLagrangian points — five special points in a system with two large bodies at which a small body can remain in a stable position relative to the large bodies., but then abruptly change direction under the influence of solar gravity.

In these regions, the space bodies initially move in an elliptical orbit, which later transforms into a complex trajectory similar to a Mandelbrot setA Mandelbrot set is a well-known fractal that has a complex geometric structure and is an example of a dynamical system.. These objects can theoretically remain in such an orbit indefinitely without flying out into interstellar space or colliding with the Sun.

Belbruno and Greene believe that this region could be a kind of trap for interstellar objects such as orphan planetsOrphan planets are planets that do not orbit any star but drift freely in space., comets, or asteroids like OumuamuaOumuamua is the first known interstellar object to pass through the solar system in 2017.. If this is confirmed, the scientific community will have to revise our understanding of the boundaries of the solar system.

The researchers propose to study this area with powerful telescopes, including the Vera Rubin Observatory’s Wide Field Observing Telescope, which is due to be launched in 2025. The discovery of captured objects in this area would confirm the scientists’ theory and force them to reconsider the boundaries of the Solar System.

Source: Newscientist