When we hear “Solar System,” we immediately think of it as a home containing one big family
of powerful celestial objects.
We look at its arrangement in awe as they work in harmony to -well, for one thing – keep
us alive.
But what happens when one planet threatens to destroy that harmony?
Welcome to Factnomenal, and in today’s video, we’re gonna see why the planet Neptune is
a possible threat to our entire Solar System.
Stellar Flyby Let's look at Jupiter, Neptune's bigger cousin
and the largest planet in the Solar System.
What do you think would happen if it mysteriously disappeared from our Solar System?
For starters, there would be minor orbital changes with other planets that revolve around
the sun.
Yes…
But the most threatening aspect of its disappearance is the millions of pieces of debris that would
eventually crash into the Earth and would bring mankind to its end.
That is terrifying, isn't it?
So, what would be the fate of the solar system if something were to happen to Neptune, a
planet with 14 moons and that is four times larger than Earth - A planet we humans have
very limited information about?
Well, strap your seat belts on, because we are taking a blast to the past.
(Fade out)
In the year 1687, the English physicist and mathematician, Sir Isaac Newton published
his book the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, which helped in predicting the
orbits of planets around the sun.
Since then, scientists have learned that the Solar System is just one tiny point of light
that revolves around the Milky Way galaxy's nucleus.
This means that occasionally our Solar System will pass in front of other stars, and this
can generate a violent disruption that can knock planets off their orbits.
Yikes.
This phenomenon we just explained is known as a “Stellar Flyby”, and according to
our men in white coats, this is a common occurrence.
Scientists believe that the occurrence of a “Stellar Flyby '' is an important event
that must occur for the evolution of the planetary systems.
Although scientists are still looking for evidence of significant changes in our Solar
System caused by a stellar flyby, given that the majority of the changes most likely occurred
4.6 billion years ago, one could argue that evidence of a stellar flyby has been lost
in time, (pause briefly), or has it?
Pandemonium in the Solar System The Solar System has been in existence for
about 4.6 billion years, and it has maintained a stable gravitational system during that
time.
Such stability would not have been attainable if the planets were always in a state of constant
chaos.
If this were the case, the alignment of the planets would be ruined by such disturbance,
which would be devastating.
This happens because the solar system depends entirely on the gravitational pull the planets
have on each other.
Now, here’s where Neptune comes in - Neptune is the furthest planet in the solar system,
with a distance of about 4.47 billion kilometers away from the sun.
This also makes it the most vulnerable planet and, of course, an easy target.
But an easy target to what?
As we all know, the Solar System is not an isolated planetary system; it is a part of
the Milky Way galaxy that is filled with asteroids, stars, meteoroids, and gasses, some of which
might be harmful to a planet, and it is all in continuous motion.
So what does this mean for our dear 'ol Neptune?
In a hypothetical sense, the planet Neptune would be the first planet to feel the effects
of a stellar flyby, and that is a problem.
So, two scientists at the University of Toronto performed over 3000 simulations with varying
degrees of disruption.
This experiment was based on what would happen if a stellar flyby occurred.
They assessed the consequences for up to billions of years in the future.
Take a guess, what do you think they found out?
These Canadian scientists discovered that major adjustments to Neptune's orbit are required
to be on the order of (0.03 astronomical units, or 4.5 billion meters) to have any influence
on the Solar System's long-term stability.
This sort of alteration to Neptune's orbit can increase instability up to tenfold during
the lifespan of our Solar System.
They also theorized that if a neighboring star happened to fly too close to the planet
Neptune, it would cause a shift in the planet’s orbit which could further destabilize other
planets in the Solar System.
And, guess what!!!
That's not the only scary thing about this.
If such were to happen...
Well, the passing star would not need to be as big as the sun to do damage.
And the part that makes this crazier is that…
…due to the distance of Neptune from Earth - we may not see it coming until the damage
has been done.
Oh boy!
Learning about this has troubled scientists worldwide, so much that they wanted to know
when we would be expecting a passing star.
But sadly, figuring that out has posed a significant challenge to scientists.
You are most likely asking why.
The answers to that rest in a predicament that astronomers have struggled with ever
since Newton formulated his Theory of Universal Gravitation.
To summarize, it all boils down to the N-body issue, which describes the difficulties of
predicting the individual path of a group of astronomical objects interacting gravitationally
with each other.
Solving this accurately is mathematically impossible, and that leads astronomers to
adopt numerical approximations.
But, there's a problem.
The difficulty with adopting numerical approximations is that, first, the motion of the planets
is unpredictable, meaning that modest changes in the system's initial conditions would have
a big impact on the results (even differences as small as one part in a trillion).
Second, the timeframes are very dissimilar.
The use of numerical solutions can give scientists an estimate of the number of simulations that
will eventually become unstable versus the number of simulations that will not.
However, dealing with timescale problems remains a difficult task because the planets must
be simulated one day at a time, necessitating massive computer resources.
Even at the speeds that modern computers are capable of reaching, such simulation may still
take as long as 3 - 4 weeks to complete.
All these may lead us to conclude that Neptune is the only planet that could pose a threat
to our entire existence…
(Sigh) but, there’s more.
Enter Planet 9 In January 2015, a pair of scientists from
the California Institute of Technology proposed that a Neptune-sized planet circles our Sun
in an extremely elongated orbit that far outstretches Pluto.
They made their argument primarily on mathematical modeling and computer simulations rather than
on observation.
The unseen planet is predicted to exist based on its apparent gravitational influence on
a group of small objects with odd, clustered orbits.
According to the hypothesis, the planet has a mass around ten times that of Earth and
an orbit approximately twenty times further from the Sun than Neptune, the eighth and
farthest known planet from the Sun.
Dr. Whitmire, a retired professor of astrophysics who taught at the University of Arkansas,
claimed that Planet 9 may be the cause of comet showers, which have the potential to
wipe out our planet and most likely others.
According to Dr. Whitmire's findings, a big planet 'dislodges' comets every 27 million
years, which has the potential of causing massive extinction.
However, there is no proof that any known or hypothetical object poses a threat to Earth.
But, observers are keeping a close check on near-Earth objects for possible issues.
But, there’s hope Furthermore, after running simulations, scientists
from the University of Toronto concluded that a star would not pass by and disrupt our Solar
System for another 100 billion years.
Phew, I was getting worried.
I love my planet.
A little secret, (speak softly) it's my favorite.
Although it is quite sad that our beautiful planet Earth is constantly being threatened
by a variety of existential dangers, such as nuclear war, a pandemic, and extreme climate
change.
But these terrifying scenarios are insignificant to what some scientists predict for Earth.
Our planet's ultimate fate, based on their assumptions, is to be annihilated.
Most likely a few billion years from now, when the sun will expand and swallow the planet.
There may be nothing we can do to avert plausible impending disasters.
However, according to experts who research the far future, such as Yale University astronomer
Gregory Laughlin, the prognosis for life is, strangely, rather bright.
Given technological advancements and our species' ongoing development, humanity should be able
to endure — in some way — long after our solar system ceases to exist.
But of course, our distant descendants are gonna have to do some planet-hopping.
To dwell in the outer Solar System, would-be settlers most likely have to abandon living
on the surfaces of planets and moons in favor of revolving stations in space.
These would give potential residents all the facilities they require, while also overcoming
the most significant hurdle to long-term living - low gravity.
Utilizing materials that are easily accessible in the outer Solar System, such as minerals
collected from asteroids and smaller planets, these stations might be constructed on-site.
Moons and comets might all be used to extract water, ice, and volatiles at the same time.
Solar mirrors might concentrate solar radiation into these habitats, supplying enough sunlight
for plants to flourish (with the possibility of being turned off to produce a day/night
cycle).
Space-based solar, nuclear, and fusion reactors might provide all the energy required.
Because of the planets' proximity to Uranus and Neptune, there would be an abundant supply
of hydrogen and helium fuel.
By mixing asteroid rock material, organic compounds (produced from methane), and nitric
fertilizers to generate soil — functional biomes might be developed within the dwellings.
Water, ice, and ammonia could be used to generate oxygen and nitrogen gas, which could then
be pumped into the atmosphere to form it.
Then, it would be possible to add plants, shrubs, trees, and animals to form a fully
functional and regenerative ecosystem.
In this ecosystem, plants would produce oxygen gas and remove carbon dioxide from the air,
while the soil and plants would establish a nitrogen and water cycle (like we have on
Earth).
There would be the provision of space stations, which would serve as a base for robotic or
human haulers to gather materials for use.
If useful resources like diamond, gold, and platinum remain valuable, prospectors might
reach out to collect them.
These might also be employed as supermaterials to construct spinning dwellings in space and
on the ground, particularly if clear parts are required to admit concentrated sunlight.
A robust economy focused on resource exploitation and tourism might be established over time.
Bases in the outer Solar System would also be perfect for conducting many forms of scientific
study.
That would be quite the predicament we'll find ourselves in, but…
Do you think we humans have what it takes to save ourselves from this impending doom
that may befall us?
Tell us in the comment section below.
And as always, thanks for watching Factnomenal, we’ll see you next time.