A Star Grazed Our Solar System 70,000 Years Ago, and Early Humans Likely Saw It

[LudwigPastorius]

4. "Grazed Our Solar System"

The generous definition of the diameter of our solar system (the one that includes the most distant observed object, Sedna) = 900+/- astronomical units

The distance this star was estimated to be when it passed our system = 60,000+/- astronomical units

In equivalent distances, that's like someone coming within a little under two miles from you. "Oooh, almost grazed me!"

And, despite the dramatic depiction of our ancient ancestor looking up at the star in the night sky, when you click through to the original article, you get this:

At its closest point, Scholz's star would have been a 10th-magnitude star — 50 times too faint to be seen with the naked eye. However, brief flares on the star could have lit it up thousands of times brighter, making it potentially visible to early mankind for a few minutes or hours at a time, the researchers explained.

Never stop coming up with that hyperbole, internet science writers!