Alfa Cenaturi. Particles of distant stars are to circle in the solar system

Alfa Centauri (AC) is a system of stars consisting of three objects: Alfa Centauri A, Alfy Centauri B and Proximy Centauri. Not counting the sun, these are the stars closest to us. As a group, they are approaching our part spacerushing at a speed of about 79 thousand kilometers per hour. This means that in about 28,000 years Alfa Centauri will be at a distance of 200,000 astronomical units from our daily star. 1 Au is 149.6 million kilometers, and that is the distance of the earth from the sun.

Researchers from the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy and the Institute of Earth and Cosmos Exploration at the University of West Ontario in Canada decided that thanks to the approximation of the system it is possible to check how foreign matter moves between solar systems. The results of their work were published in the journal “Planetary Science Journal”.

The main authors of the study are Cole Greg and Paul Wiegert. “Although interstellar material has been discovered in our solar system, its origin and transport details are unknown. We present here Alfa Centauri as a case of the case of the delivery of interstellar material to our solar system” – explained researchers.

It is believed that Alfa Centauri is a mature system that can also contain planets. Such systems most often do not generate huge amounts of matter that is thrown into space. That is why the authors of the new study are of the opinion that this amount is really residual.

“The presence of many stars and planets increases the likelihood of gravitational dispersion of particles from all other reservoirs of Planetozimali (small heavenly bodies, from which planets can form – editor's note), just like asteroids or comet are now thrown out of our solar system” – the authors said . As they added, an example can be Kometa 2i/Borisov and a mysterious planetoid 1i/ʻoumuamua, which flashed through the solar system. But since such facilities can find the way to our piece of space, the same can happen with “ordinary” dust.

In their work, researchers benefited from already known models visualizing reproach of matter from star systems, which are partly based on knowledge about our solar system.

Their studies have shown that now in the hypothetical cloud of Oorta, which can be a remnant of the protoplanetary disk, from which the planets of the Solar System were created, the matter from Alfa Centauri accumulates. As they said, “the number of particles with a diameter of more than 100 meters can reach up to a million”.

The objects are extremely distant and difficult to detect. The authors of the work explained that the chance that one of them is at a distance of a maximum of 10 from the sun is one in a million.

In their analyzes, they mentioned that there were possible paths that the matter from Alfa Centauri has a chance to go to our solar system. However, smaller particles that would look like meteors in the atmosphere of the earth, are most likely to be subjected to destructive forces, such as magnetic field, resistance of the interstellar center, as well as potential collisions with other objects. Thanks to their simulations, they specified that a particle that would be able to survive such a long journey and difficult conditions should have a diameter, located in the range of 1.05 to 73.22 micrometers, with median [środkową wartością – przyp. red.] amounting to 3.3 micrometer. Such a small size is not detected by current research instruments.

According to the authors of the research, the more alpha centauri get closer to us, the greater the chance of a greater number of more and more substantial particles. In the next 28,000 years it may increase ten times.

These studies are the best example that our solar system is not an isolated object. And if the material from foreign systems can move so freely to us, the window for forming new planets is repealed.

If Alfa Centauri actually contains planets, then part of the matter that reaches us can come from them. There is a chance that we will know the whole system without having to travel towards Alfa Centauri.

“A thorough understanding of the mechanisms, thanks to which the material can be transferred from Alfa Centauri to the solar system, not only deepens our knowledge about interstellar transport, but also opens new paths for exploration of mutual connections of star systems and the potential for material replacement throughout the galaxy” – the authors summed up .