Could Earth one day fall out of orbit?

Doomsday scenarios that we often encounter in Hollywood movies often remain fiction. But this time, scientists have brought up a possibility that could become real: Could the Earth one day be thrown into space? In other words, could it move out of orbit?

Researchers from the Planetary Science Institute and the University of Bordeaux suggest that a star passing close to the Sun could disrupt the orbit of our planet. In such a scenario, the Earth would gradually freeze away from the Sun, and the conditions for life would quickly disappear. And the planet doesn’t have to travel very far for this to happen. Just approaching the orbit of Mars could be enough to cover most of the Earth in ice.

COULD IT REALLY HAPPEN?

According to the research Chip provided, the probability of such an event occurring in the next five billion years is one in 500. Small, but not zero. Furthermore, the probability of Mars moving out of orbit or colliding with another planet is calculated as 0.3 percent; for Earth, this rate is calculated as 0.2 percent.

Of course, this scenario is not the only possible ending that has been considered. Other possibilities such as black holes roaming in space, giant asteroid impacts, nuclear war, artificial intelligence running amok, or Earth’s magnetic poles shifting have been discussed for years. All these scenarios aside, the fact that we still live on a habitable planet today is sheer luck. Disasters may be waiting for us in the distant future, but appreciating today is perhaps the most realistic approach.