What Would Happen if Earth Were Flung Out of the Solar System?

Author’s note: This article is pure speculation. Some facts were obtained from astronomers and scientists, who warn the reader to take this article with a grain of salt.

It’s not often that I experience existential dread. In fact, it’s downright rare. As the clock wound down to midnight on December 31, I was doing what most 40-somethings do on New Year’s Eve — lie in bed and flip through Hulu and TikTok to find something to doze off to.

It was then that a thought entered my mind unbidden: What if an errant star or large rogue planet made a close pass of our solar system? What disruptions might that cause to our daily lives?

I’m not a scientist, merely a science writer. But I know enough about physics to know that a large interstellar traveler, of which there are many, wouldn’t have to collide with anything to cause Earth to have a really bad day. Its gravitational influence would be more than enough.

I sat upright in bed, my hands suddenly cold and clammy. I may not be outright nihilistic, but I am usually quite blasé about civilization-ending events. After all, they are rare. But for some unknown reason, this thought galvanized my imagination.

70,000 Years Ago, a Red Dwarf Star Came Close to Our Solar System

It turns out that 70,000 years ago, when humans were first leaving Africa, a red dwarf known as Scholz’s star passed through the…