Is there any danger that a halo star swooping thru the disk of the galaxy will someday hit the Sun or Earth?

Answer 1

Sure, it's possible. Hang around a few 10's of millions of years and see if it happens.

Answer 2

There's always danger, but the probability of something like that occurring is very low. In the history of the earth (four and a half thousand million years) it hasn't happened. I know this for a fact because we are here. Say it did happen. Even then we would see it coming and it would take hundreds of thousands if not millions of years to get here. I think the chances are better of winning the lotto back to back. Having said that, I'll say this. I believe that in the suns fifty million year orbit around the galaxy, we occasionally encounter areas of space that may be dirty with gas, so much so that it could reduce the solar radiation reaching the earth by a few percent. There is some evidence of this in sediment cores. The alternate explanation is that the sun itself occasionally varies slightly in brightness. Even a very small change in radiation reaching the earth could trigger an ice age. Even this is nothing to worry about. All of these possibilities occur in something called geologic time in which tens, if not hundreds of thousands of human life spans are immaterial.

Answer 3

The chances of this are extremely small. The way orbits work, and with the enormous distance between interstellar objects, it is very unlikely for stars to just randomly hit each other. In fact, when the Andromeda Galaxy collides with the Milky Way, as it will in about 3000000000 years, billions of stars will be flung all over the place, but chances are none of them will accidentally hit each other.

A slightly more likely possibility is that a passing star may release a number of asteroids and comets and so on into the Solar System, and one of them might collide with Earth. However, if there is a star coming, chances are we will know about it at least a few hundred and probably several thousand years in advance, so we'll have plenty of time to prepare for any possible disaster (involving either the star or small flying objects).

Answer 4

The odds of a true collision are exceedingly remote. A massive object passing through the solar system could be devastating. If might affect orbits, and its passage through the Oort cloud might bring thousand of comets into the inner solar system in its wake.

Answer 5

Not really. The space between stars is huge - like you and your friend both running across Montana, screaming and waving your arms - you're never going to see each other, much less run into each other.