No Influence of Passing Stars on Paleoclimate Reconstructions Over the Past 56 Million Years
Passing stars (also called stellar flybys) have notable effects on the solar system’s long-term dynamical evolution, injection of Oort cloud comets into the solar system, properties of trans-Neptunian objects, and more. Based on a simplified solar system model, omitting the Moon and the Sun’s quadru...
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astronomical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ade1d3 |
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| author | Richard E. Zeebe David M. Hernandez |
| author_facet | Richard E. Zeebe David M. Hernandez |
| author_sort | Richard E. Zeebe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Passing stars (also called stellar flybys) have notable effects on the solar system’s long-term dynamical evolution, injection of Oort cloud comets into the solar system, properties of trans-Neptunian objects, and more. Based on a simplified solar system model, omitting the Moon and the Sun’s quadrupole moment J _2 , it has recently been suggested that passing stars are also an important driver of paleoclimate before ∼50 Myr ago, including a climate event called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (∼56 Myr ago). In contrast, using a state-of-the-art solar system model, including a lunar contribution and J _2 , and random stellar parameters (>400 simulations), we find no influence of passing stars on paleoclimate reconstructions over the past 56 Myr. Even in an extreme flyby scenario in which the Sun-like star HD 7977 ( m = 1.07 M _⊙ ) would have passed within ∼3900 au about 2.8 Myr ago (with 5% likelihood), we detect no discernible change in Earth’s orbital evolution over the past 70 Myr, compared to our standard model. Our results indicate that a complete physics model is essential to accurately study the effects of stellar flybys on Earth’s orbital evolution. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bfc7101ff612458696605069c08ccede |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1538-3881 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astronomical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-bfc7101ff612458696605069c08ccede2025-08-20T03:33:11ZengIOP PublishingThe Astronomical Journal1538-38812025-01-0117027110.3847/1538-3881/ade1d3No Influence of Passing Stars on Paleoclimate Reconstructions Over the Past 56 Million YearsRichard E. Zeebe0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0806-8387David M. Hernandez1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7648-0926SOEST, University of Hawaii at Manoa , 1000 Pope Road, MSB 629, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA ; zeebe@soest.hawaii.eduDepartment of Astronomy, Yale University , Kline Biology Tower, 219 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA ; david.m.hernandez@yale.eduPassing stars (also called stellar flybys) have notable effects on the solar system’s long-term dynamical evolution, injection of Oort cloud comets into the solar system, properties of trans-Neptunian objects, and more. Based on a simplified solar system model, omitting the Moon and the Sun’s quadrupole moment J _2 , it has recently been suggested that passing stars are also an important driver of paleoclimate before ∼50 Myr ago, including a climate event called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (∼56 Myr ago). In contrast, using a state-of-the-art solar system model, including a lunar contribution and J _2 , and random stellar parameters (>400 simulations), we find no influence of passing stars on paleoclimate reconstructions over the past 56 Myr. Even in an extreme flyby scenario in which the Sun-like star HD 7977 ( m = 1.07 M _⊙ ) would have passed within ∼3900 au about 2.8 Myr ago (with 5% likelihood), we detect no discernible change in Earth’s orbital evolution over the past 70 Myr, compared to our standard model. Our results indicate that a complete physics model is essential to accurately study the effects of stellar flybys on Earth’s orbital evolution.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ade1d3Solar systemOrbitsCelestial mechanicsSolar neighborhood |
| spellingShingle | Richard E. Zeebe David M. Hernandez No Influence of Passing Stars on Paleoclimate Reconstructions Over the Past 56 Million Years The Astronomical Journal Solar system Orbits Celestial mechanics Solar neighborhood |
| title | No Influence of Passing Stars on Paleoclimate Reconstructions Over the Past 56 Million Years |
| title_full | No Influence of Passing Stars on Paleoclimate Reconstructions Over the Past 56 Million Years |
| title_fullStr | No Influence of Passing Stars on Paleoclimate Reconstructions Over the Past 56 Million Years |
| title_full_unstemmed | No Influence of Passing Stars on Paleoclimate Reconstructions Over the Past 56 Million Years |
| title_short | No Influence of Passing Stars on Paleoclimate Reconstructions Over the Past 56 Million Years |
| title_sort | no influence of passing stars on paleoclimate reconstructions over the past 56 million years |
| topic | Solar system Orbits Celestial mechanics Solar neighborhood |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ade1d3 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT richardezeebe noinfluenceofpassingstarsonpaleoclimatereconstructionsoverthepast56millionyears AT davidmhernandez noinfluenceofpassingstarsonpaleoclimatereconstructionsoverthepast56millionyears |