Could the Earth really leave the solar system? “It’s very unlikely,” said Matteo Sirioti, aeronautical engineer and lecturer of space systems engineering at the University of Glasgow in the UK. However, as Sirioti explained, it is “unlikely” not to say it is “impossible,” and he suggested a way it might theoretically happen.
According to the “Space” website, Sirioti said: “The Earth can be moved away from its orbit through the work of a huge interstellar body, which flies through interstellar space and enters the solar system and passes close to the Earth.”
Sirioti added, “In this close encounter, known as ‘flying’, the Earth and the object exchange energy, and the Earth’s orbit is disrupted. If the object is fast, massive and close enough, it can bring down Earth in escaping from an orbit directed outside the solar system.”
Timothy Davis, a senior lecturer in physics and astronomy at Cardiff University in the UK, agreed that the Earth might theoretically be kicked out of the solar system, and has his own hypothesis regarding how this might happen.
Davis added, “The planets, as they exist now, are in stable orbits around the sun. However, if the sun had a close encounter with another star, the gravitational interactions of these bodies might disturb these orbits, possibly causing disruption of the solar system.”
However, Davis noted that while this scenario is possible, it is incredibly doubtful that it will happen, at least, for the foreseeable future.