What Happens When Stars and Black Holes Meet

How often do stars collide? And what would happen if two stars collide? Stellar collisions occur about every 10,000 years and are an incredible spectacle. But they’re only fascinating to watch when they happen tens and hundreds of light-years away. If a star collides with our own Sun, it will be a global cataclysm that will leave no chance of survival to anything. If it happens, it will most likely involve a rogue star. These are stars that aren’t bound by gravity to any galaxy and move independently through space. And such a star has already paid a visit to our Solar System. To be more precise, two stars. About 70,000 years ago, they approached the boundary of our system. Humanity was already around at the time and probably began spreading worldwide from Africa. And they could have witnessed a dim red light in the night sky. And even though Scholz’s Star flew by us at a distance of about 0.8 light-years, its gravitational field strongly influenced the movement of different cosmic bodies. But what if such a star didn’t pass by, but went straight to the center of our Solar System — to the Sun? Scientists say this may happen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices