Scientists predict that the solar system has 100 billion years of life shorter than previously thought
The expected dynamic lifespan of the solar system is much longer than the current age of the universe but much shorter than previously thought.
Scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles, the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and the University of Michigan have figured out when the outer solar system will collapse. This is stated in an article published in The Astronomical Journal.
Astronomers have simulated the fate of external gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) after the Sun completes its stellar evolution.
It is noted that due to the decrease in the mass of the Sun, the orbits of the giant planets are significantly expanding. The orbits of Jupiter and Saturn form a new stable configuration with an orbital resonance of 5: 2 (5 revolutions of Jupiter around the Sun account for 2 revolutions of Saturn).
Although such an orbital resonance exists today, in the future celestial bodies will become more vulnerable to the influences of stars flying past the solar system.
Over the next 30 billion years, such stars will cause large-scale instability in the orbits of gas giants, which will lead to the release of all planets from the solar system, except for one, over the next ten billion years.
After another 50 billion years, a close collision with a star within 200 astronomical units is predicted, which will rid the cooling sun from the last planet.
Thus, using a set of long-term simulations of the solar system that take into account the loss of solar mass and external influences from passing stars, scientists expect the complete destruction of the outer solar system over the next 100 billion years, which is significantly less than previously thought.
