--- title: A Star Flew Through Our Solar System description: About 70,000 years ago canonical: https://time.com/3713873/red-dwarf-star-solar-system/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-18T19:11:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:05:33.881Z article:section: Science og:title: Alien Star Had a Close Call With Our Solar System og:description: About 70,000 years ago og:url: https://time.com/3713873/red-dwarf-star-solar-system/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Alien Star Had a Close Call With Our Solar System twitter:description: About 70,000 years ago twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Alien Star Had a Close Call With Our Solar System by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Feb 18, 2015 7:11 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Feb 18, 2015 7:11 PM UTC A red dwarf known as Scholz’s star passed through the edge of our solar system less than a lightyear away from the sun about 70,000 years ago, [according to a new paper](http://iopscience.iop.org/2041-8205/800/1/L17/article). In the paper, published in the journal _The Astrophysical Journal Letters,_ scientists write that they believe the Scholz’s star and its brown dwarf companion passed through the far part of our solar system called the outer Oort Cloud. There is no other known star that has come so close. The scientists who spotted it needed to determine whether it was coming toward the solar system or flying away from it. Through their calculations, they were able to determine that the star is 20 light years away, [BBC reports](http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-31519875), and that it passed the solar system and is heading away. They estimated the flyby likely happened around 70,000 years ago. There were concerns that the star could have affected with the gravitational orbits of the comets that reside in the Oort Cloud, but researchers concluded that its impact was “negligible.” ### PHOTOS: 20 Breathtaking Images of Earth From Space  Aleppo, Syria, May 26, 2013 – The Citadel of Aleppo – medieval fortified palace DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Belfast, Northern Ireland, Nov. 3, 2013 – “Wish,” a large-scale art work DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Utah, USA, April 22, 2013 – Colorado River DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Cuanza River, Angola, April 28, 2013 – Cambambe Dam DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Doha, Qatar, March 4, 2013 – Artificial island spanning nearly four million sq meters. DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Dunalley, Australia, Jan. 6, 2013 – fires, false color image (red = healthy vegetation) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Australia, April 22, 2013 – Great Barrier Reef DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Gwadar coast, Pakistan Sept. 29, 2013 – new island created by earthquake in Pakistan DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Croatia, Feb. 16, 2013 – Galešnjak (Island of Love) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Hong Kong, China May 9, 2013 – giant rubber duck DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, March 22, 2013 – Manam Volcano DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Namib Desert, Namibia, May 13, 2013 – Sossusvlie area DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Naples, Italy, Feb. 19 2013 – Mount Vesuvius DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Niger, Feb. 13, 2013 – Arlit Uranium Mine DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Schooner Cays, Bahamas, May 26, 2013 DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Sochi, Russia, March 17, 2013 – Site of 2014 winter Olympics DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Near the city of Sur, Oman, Feb. 13, 2013 – massive “green tide” DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Valencia, Spain, July 19, 2013 – Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia and Gulliver Park with an enormous fiberglass model of Lemuel Gulliver trapped DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Versailles, France, Aug. 20, 2013 – Palace of Versailles DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Xi'an, China, Sept. 24, 2013 – Shiyuan Park DigitalGlobe—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3713873/red-dwarf-star-solar-system/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3713873/red-dwarf-star-solar-system/"},"headline":"Alien Star Had a Close Call With Our Solar System","datePublished":"2015-02-18T19:11:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:33.881Z","description":"About 70,000 years ago","url":"https://time.com/3713873/red-dwarf-star-solar-system/","keywords":["Space","sun","star","solar system"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3713873/red-dwarf-star-solar-system/","name":"Alien Star Had a Close Call With Our Solar System"}}]}] ```