astronomy

Gliese 710

Gliese 710 is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Gliese 710 rather than just read about it. In short: Gliese 710, or HIP 89825, is an orangish 0.6 M☉ star in the constellation Serpens Cauda. It is projected to pass near the Sun in about 1.29 million years at a predicted minimum distance of 0.051 parsecs – 0.1663 light-years (10,520 astronomical units; 1.573 trillion kilometres) – about ⁠1/25⁠ of the current distance to Proxima Centauri.

Key takeaways

Gliese 710 belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Gliese 710 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Gliese 710 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Gliese 710, or HIP 89825, is an orangish 0.6 M☉ star in the constellation Serpens Cauda. It is projected to pass near the Sun in about 1.29 million years at a predicted minimum distance of 0.051 parsecs – 0.1663 light-years (10,520 astronomical units; 1.573 trillion kilometres) – about ⁠1/25⁠ of the current distance to Proxima Centauri. Such a distance would make for a similar brightness to the brightest planets, optimally reaching an apparent magnitude of about −2.7. The star's proper motion will peak around one arcminute per year, a rate of apparent motion that would be noticeable over a human lifespan. This is a timeframe, based on data from Data Release 3 from the Gaia spacecraft, well within the parameters of current models which cover the next 15 million years.

Description

Gliese 710 is currently 62.3 light-years (19.1 parsecs) from Earth in the constellation Serpens and has a below naked-eye visual magnitude of 9.69. A stellar classification of K7 Vk means it is a small main-sequence star mostly generating energy through the thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen in its core. (The suffix 'k' indicates that the spectrum shows absorption lines from interstellar matter.) Stellar mass is about 57% of the Sun's mass with an estimated 58% of the Sun's radius. It is suspected to be a variable star that may vary in magnitude from 9.65 to 9.69. As of 2020, no planets have been detected orbiting it.

Computing and details of the closest approach

In their 2010 work, Bobylev et al. suggested that Gliese 710 has an 86% chance of passing through the Oort cloud, assuming the Oort cloud to be a spheroid around the Sun with semiminor and semimajor axes of 80,000 and 100,000 AU, respectively. The distance of closest approach of Gliese 710 is generally difficult to compute precisely as it depends sensitively on its current position and velocity; Bobylev et al. estimated that Gliese 710 would pass within 0.311±0.167 parsecs (1.014±0.545 light-years) of the Sun. At the time, there was even a 1-in-10,000 chance of the star penetrating into the region (d < 1,000 AU) where the influence of the passing star on Kuiper belt objects would be significant. Results from new calculations that include input data from Gaia DR3 indicate that the flyby of Gliese 710 to the Solar System will on average be closer at 0.051 ± 0.003 pc (0.1663 ± 0.0098 ly; 10,520 ± 620 AU) in 1.29±0.04 Myr time, considerably more precise than previous estimates. One 2026 study refined such estimates, giving a closest passage of 0.0621 ± 0.0023 pc (0.2025 ± 0.0075 ly; 12,810 ± 470 AU) in 1.3446±0.0022 Myr. The effects of such an encounter on the orbit of the Pluto–Charon system (and therefore, on the classical trans-Neptunian belt) are negligible, but Gliese 710 will traverse the outer Oort cloud (inside 100,000 AU or 0.48 pc) and reach the outskirts of the inner Oort cloud (inward of 20,000 AU). Gliese 710 has the potential to perturb the Oort cloud in the outer Solar System, exerting enough force to send showers of comets into the inner Solar System for millions of years, triggering visibility of about ten naked-eye comets per year, and possibly causing an impact event. According to Filip Berski and Piotr Dybczyński, this event will be "the strongest disrupting encounter in the future and history of the Solar System". Earlier dynamic models indicated that the net increase in cratering rate due to the passage of Gliese 710 would be no more than 5%. They had originally estimated that the closest approach would happen in 1.36 million years when the star will approach within 0.337±0.177 parsecs (1.100±0.577 light-years) of the Sun. Gaia DR2 later found the minimum perihelion distance to be 0.0676±0.0157 parsecs or 13,900±3,200 AU, about 1.281 million years from now.

In popular culture In 2022, the final track on popular Australian psychedelic rock band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's album Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms, and Lava was entitled Gliese 710. The song is written entirely in Locrian mode.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Gliese 710

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Gliese 710 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Gliese 710 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Gliese 710 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Gliese 710

In research: Gliese 710 appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Gliese 710 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Gliese 710 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Durchmusterung objects, Gliese and GJ objects, Henry Draper Catalogue objects, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Gliese 710 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Gliese 710 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Gliese 710 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Gliese 710 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gliese 710 in simple terms?

Why does Gliese 710 matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Gliese 710?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Gliese 710.