Milky Way Solar System

[bender008]

Is our solar system getting closer to the center of the milky way, And one day will we get sucked into the supermasive black hole in the center

 

[supradeep]

you asked if the solar system is moving towards the center. Let me tell you one thing all the old stars are in the center of the galaxy and all the young stars are at the tip and now our star is sun it is still young compared to other stars and stars life span is very large and by the time it becomes old we will be orbiting in side the sun so we will not be sucked into the black hole as such we all would have become extinct by this time as the ice age also nearing

 

[newtonian]

bender008 - Many obits decay, but some do not and some even recede, like our moon. I do not know whether our solar system orbit is decaying at all - but if so it is slight.<br /><br />It is likely that before any significant change in our solar system orbit occurs we will merge with Andromeda galaxy, and all orbits will be effected.<br /><br />As I have received no answer as to where we will be when Andromeda and Milky Way merge - I simply do not know if we will remain gravitationally bound to either Milky Way supermassive black hole or Andromeda super massive black hole or whether we will in fact be flung out on a somewhat unique orbit on the river in space heading towards the Great Attractor (s).<br /><br />Either way, it will be an interesting journey!

 

[newtonian]

supradeep - Are you sure?<br /><br />We are about 28,000 light years from the galactic center. Younger stars, called population I stars, are mostly in the galactic plane and disk. Older stars are in the halo - very distant from the galactic center, and in the bulge.<br /><br />Our solar system takes roughly 220 million years to orbit the galactic center, so we will not orbit that many times before perturbation of orbits by the merger with Andromeda - therefore I doubt any change in our orbit before that event will be significant.<br /><br />This is especially true because of the large amount of dark matter which accelerates orbits of solar systems especially beyond 60.000 light years from galactic center.<br /><br />However, we are also in the zone of increasing speed beyond the galactic nucleus fringe. Clearly, the decreasing orbital velocity proportional to distance from the center for solar systems within the nucleus would argue that these solar systems will eventually be sucked in to the center.<br /><br />However, increasing velocities up to our sun's velocity of 230 km per second make it less clear whether we will ultimately remain gravitationally bound.<br /><br />This is an ancient question, btw.:<br /><br />(Job 38:31-33) 31 Can you tie fast the bonds of the Ki´mah constellation, Or can you loosen the very cords of the Ke´sil constellation? 32 Can you bring forth the Maz´za·roth constellation in its appointed time? And as for the Ash constellation alongside its sons, can you conduct them? 33 Have you come to know the statutes of the heavens,Or could you put its authority in the earth?. . .<br /><br />We really need to learn more about the statutes of the heavens before dogmatically asserting an absolute answer to whether the gravitational bonds (and magnetic bonds, etc.) will hold fast or be loosened.<br /><br />Two of the crucial factors are the influence of the halo of dark matter on gravitational bonds in our galaxy and the influence of dark energy on the same gravitat

 

[newtonian]

supradeep - On ice age vs. global warming - I'll let other posters respond on that tangent.<br /><br />However, humans will not become extinct, in my belief.<br /><br />The fiery end for our earth that some envision is often based on assumptions concerning the properties of our sun.<br /><br />"Star differs from star in glory" (1 Corinthians 15:41), and astronomers are discovering how different stars can be.<br /><br />See, for example, the Scientific American article on Magnetars.<br /><br />Our sun's magnetic properties are likely different from average, and this does influence models as to the future of our sun - and also the future orbital distance of our earth.<br /><br />The popular standard model for all main sequence stars including our sun is for zero mixing of the outer hyrogen rich solar layers with hydrogen depleted core areas such that a specific rate of transition from main sequence to red giant phase is postulated.<br /><br />I suspect this is true for average main sequence stars - but I also expect variation about this mean or average.<br /><br />Our sun's magnetic fields are extremely active. The solar corona, heated by travelling magnetic fields, is extremely hot.<br /><br />The magnetic dynamoes producing these fields show evidence of originating deep within the sun and there is reason to consider some of these may travel from the core to the surface.<br /><br />The cause is likely ions in motion which cause magnetic fields.<br /><br />Ions are, of course, atoms - especially hydrogen atoms.<br /><br />Motion simply does not agree with zero mixing.<br /><br />I submit that our sun has some mixing, albeit slight, from core to surface.<br /><br />While this mixing will not produce noticable effects for periods of hundreds or even thousands of years - I suspect significant effects over periods of millions and especially billions of years.<br /><br />Therefore, I submit that our sun will not enter red giant phase 5 billion years from now but rather closer to the time of the Androm

 

[dark_energy]

I haven't seen any inclination that the solar system is heading slowly towards the center of the Milky Way. Like Newtonian said there are other things to 'worry' about before the solar system ends up in the densely packed center of our galaxy.<br /><br />The sun will engulf the earth in its red giant phase, making the earth uninhabitable. Even before this, the sun's brightness will increase, making life cease to exist on this planet.<br /><br />The Andromeda merger with the Milky Way, although this is around 3 billion years from now, before the red giant phase of the sun but after the sun increasing its own brightness due to its impending fate.<br /><br />I disagree with Newtonian that our solar system will be flung off into an empty void; I do not believe that perturbations in the solar system will occur during the time of the merger. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>