American scientists have found that some sharp changes in climate in the history of the Earth were caused by the influence of neighboring stars approaching our system.
This information was reported by Vsviti, reports URA-Inform.
Researchers simulated the interaction of the Sun as it approaches other luminaries while rotating around the center of the Milky Way galaxy.
As it turned out, approximately once every million years the Sun approaches a neighboring star at a distance of 50 thousand astronomical units or a.u. (one AU — 150 million kilometers). And every 20 million years, the Sun passes by a star located at 20 thousand AU, which is relatively close by cosmic standards.
The gravitational influence of the approaching star disrupts the orbits of large planets in the Solar System. As a result, the Earth slightly changes its trajectory around the Sun.
Such gravitational disturbances may explain ancient climate fluctuations. For example, 56 million years on our planet there was a temperature maximum, during which average temperatures rose by 5-8 degrees Celsius.
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