Could a wandering star eventually crash into our solar system or even hit Earth? It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but scientists have been running simulations to find out just how stable our cosmic neighborhood really is.

Although such an event is highly unlikely, a new study published in the journal Icarus explores how passing stars might influence the orbits of planets in our solar system, including Earth.

Astronomers Nathan Kaib and Sean Raymond conducted thousands of computer simulations that modeled how "field stars"—stars that happen to pass near our solar system—could affect the future paths of our planets.

“Our simulations indicate that isolated models of the solar system can underestimate the degree of our giant planets' future secular orbital changes by over an order of magnitude. In addition, our planets and Pluto are significantly less stable than previously thought,” wrote Kaib and Raymond in their May research paper.

Kaib is affiliated with Iowa’s Planetary Science Institute, while Raymond works with the University of Bordeaux in France.

Despite the detailed modeling, Kaib reassured readers by telling Science News that “none of these things are probable.” Still, the study found that the chance of a collision with Earth sits at around 0.2 percent, which, while low, is still higher than earlier research suggested.

Renu Malhotra, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona who was not part of the study, commented on the findings, saying, “It’s a little scary how vulnerable we may be to planetary chaos.”

While these simulations show a small risk of disruption due to wandering stars, scientists say there's no immediate cause for concern. In the far future—billions of years from now—Earth is already predicted to be engulfed by the Sun when it expands into a red giant.

And good news for our galactic surroundings: researchers recently confirmed that the Milky Way is unlikely to collide with its neighboring galaxy any time soon.

So, while a star crashing through the solar system makes for an exciting scenario, for now, Earth remains safe from galactic chaos, at least for the foreseeable future.

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