Search for Close Stellar Encounters with the Solar System Based on Data from the Gaia DR3 Catalogue

TL;DR

This study used Gaia DR3 data to identify 31 stars, including 15 new candidates, that have close approaches to the Solar System, some penetrating the Oort cloud, with detailed approach parameters estimated.

Contribution

It presents the first identification of 15 new stars as potential close encounter candidates with the Solar System using Gaia DR3 data.

Findings

Confirmed GJ 710 and HD 7977 as candidates for deep Oort cloud penetration.

Identified WD 0810-353 as a recent close approach candidate.

Estimated approach parameters for all candidate stars.

Abstract

A search for close encounters of stars with the Solar System was performed using data from the Gaia\,DR3 catalog. We considered 31 stars with the approach parameter $d_{\rm min}<1$~pc. Among them, 15 stars are appearing as candidates for close encounters for the first time. The status of the stars GJ\,710 and HD\,7977 has been confirmed as candidates for deep penetration into the inner region of the Oort cloud. In particular, for GJ\,710 and HD\,7977, respectively, the following estimates of approach parameters are obtained: $t_{\rm min}= 1.324\pm0.026$~Myr and $d_{\rm min}=0.052\pm0.002$~pc, $t_{\rm min}=-2.830\pm0.025$~Myr and $d_{\rm min}=0.071\pm0.027$~pc. Among the newly identified candidates, the most interesting is the white dwarf WD\,0810-353, for which the following approach parameters were found: $t_{\rm min}=0.029\pm0.001$~Myr and $d_{\rm min}=0.150\pm0.003$~pc.