<p>I just found the answer to my question at this place:
<a href="http://astronomynow.com/2015/02/18/suns-close-encounter-with-scholzsstar/" rel="nofollow">http://astronomynow.com/2015/02/18/suns-close-encounter-with-scholzsstar/</a></p>

<p>Here is the answer:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Currently, Scholz’s Star is a small, dim red dwarf in the
  constellation of Monoceros, about 20 light-years away. However, at the
  closest point in its flyby of the solar system, Scholz’s Star would
  have been a 10th magnitude star — about 50 times fainter than can
  normally be seen with the naked eye at night. It is magnetically
  active, however, which can cause stars to “flare” and briefly become
  thousands of times brighter. So it is possible that Scholz’s Star may
  have been visible to the naked eye by our ancestors 70,000 years ago
  for minutes or hours at a time during rare flaring events. The star is
  part of a binary star system: a low-mass red dwarf star (with mass
  about 8% that of the Sun) and a “brown dwarf” companion (with mass
  about 6% that of the Sun). Brown dwarfs are considered “failed stars;”
  their masses are too low to fuse hydrogen in their cores like a
  “star,” but they are still much more massive than gas giant planets
  like Jupiter.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-22T03:04:25.683Z
This article concurs: http://www.space.com/28611-star-flew-through-solar-system.html
Michael
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-22T02:39:46.117Z
2015-02-23T00:18:55.660Z
2015-02-23T00:18:55.660Z
Carlos
<p>I just read that a star called Scholz passed only 0.8 years-light away from us 70,000 years ago.  It is a red dwarf. I don´t know how bright it was in the night sky. Does someone know how bright it was? </p>

<star><solar-system><binary-star>
How bright was Scholz when is passed near the Sun 70,000 years ago?
Carlos
# How bright was Scholz when is passed near the Sun 70,000 years ago?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-02-22)

I just read that a star called Scholz passed only 0.8 years-light away from us 70,000 years ago. It is a red dwarf. I don´t know how bright it was in the night sky. Does someone know how bright it was?

**Tags:** star, solar-system, binary-star


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2015-02-22. Score: 8 | Accepted answer

I just found the answer to my question at this place:
<http://astronomynow.com/2015/02/18/suns-close-encounter-with-scholzsstar/>

Here is the answer:

> Currently, Scholz’s Star is a small, dim red dwarf in the
> constellation of Monoceros, about 20 light-years away. However, at the
> closest point in its flyby of the solar system, Scholz’s Star would
> have been a 10th magnitude star — about 50 times fainter than can
> normally be seen with the naked eye at night. It is magnetically
> active, however, which can cause stars to “flare” and briefly become
> thousands of times brighter. So it is possible that Scholz’s Star may
> have been visible to the naked eye by our ancestors 70,000 years ago
> for minutes or hours at a time during rare flaring events. The star is
> part of a binary star system: a low-mass red dwarf star (with mass
> about 8% that of the Sun) and a “brown dwarf” companion (with mass
> about 6% that of the Sun). Brown dwarfs are considered “failed stars;”
> their masses are too low to fuse hydrogen in their cores like a
> “star,” but they are still much more massive than gas giant planets
> like Jupiter.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This article concurs: http://www.space.com/28611-star-flew-through-solar-system.html  

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