Gliese 710, an orange dwarf in the Serpens constellation, is hurtling toward the solar system at a speed that has now been measured with unprecedented precision. In 1.34 million years, it will enter the Oort Cloud—the outermost region of our system—and pass within a minimum distance of 2.4 light-months, or approximately 13,000 astronomical units.
The study was conducted by a team from the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) in Spain, led by Eloi Fernandez. Researchers utilized data from the European Space Agency's Gaia DR3 mission combined with ground-based observations from the CARMENES instrument. Their findings were published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics in 2026. According to the calculations, Gliese 710, currently located 62 light-years from the Sun, will approach slightly more slowly than previously estimated.
Analysis revealed that throughout the solar system's 4.56-billion-year history, approximately 12,000 close stellar flybys have occurred within a radius of 1.6 light-years. On average, stars come within 3.3 light-years of the system once every 95,000 years. The case of Gliese 710 is exceptional: such ultra-close encounters happen only once every 50 million years.
These flybys are more than just rare occurrences. Their cumulative effect gradually erodes the Oort Cloud, propelling comets both toward the inner solar system and out into interstellar space. Researchers note that these interactions explain the appearance of interstellar objects like 'Oumuamua and Comet Borisov.
If Gliese 710 hosts any planets, they will become Earth's closest neighbors in the future—remaining only 300 times further away than Pluto. The team emphasizes that the solar system is not isolated but is constantly influenced by neighboring stars over geological timescales.
Data from Gaia and CARMENES enabled the construction of a statistical model that eliminates previous systematic errors in stellar motion estimates.
