Luminosity 0.001 L☉ Magnitude 11.03 | Absolute magnitude 11.8 Color Index 1.1 Apparent magnitude (V) 11.03 | |
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Similar Scholz's star, Gliese 710, Van Maanen 2, Ross 154, Gliese 445 | ||
Wandering star hip 85605 may destroy the solar system
HIP 85605 is a star in the constellation Hercules with a visual apparent magnitude of 11.03. It may be a M dwarf or K-type main-sequence star potentially 18–28 light-years (5.6–8.5 parsecs) from the Sun. It was previously thought to be a companion of the brighter star HIP 85607, but they are now believed to be an optical double.
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The original Hipparcos parallax measurement in 1997 was 202 mas, which would place it 16.1 light-years from the Solar System. In 2007, van Leeuwen revised the number to 147 mas, or 22.2 light-years. With a parallax of 147 mas (0.147 arcseconds), HIP 85605 is unlikely to be one of the 100 closest star systems to the Sun. In 2014, it was estimated that HIP 85605 could approach to about 0.13 to 0.65 light-years (0.04 to 0.2 pc) from the Sun within 240,000 to 470,000 years, though this assumes parallax and distance measurements to the object are correct. More accurate astrometry is required to determine the distance to the star, and thus if it will pass close to the Sun. If correct, its gravitational influence will disrupt the orbits of comets in the Oort cloud and cause some of them to enter the inner Solar System. But the distance to this object is not well determined, and it may turn out to be a much more distant luminous star, which would be a better fit to the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram.
If the parallax data for HIP 85605 is substantially in error, and it is currently ~200 light-years from the Sun, it may simply pass ~30 light-years from the Sun in 2.8 million years.