Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
Our Solar System isn’t stationary—it races around the Milky Way at 200 km/s. Around 14 million years ago, it crossed the dense Orion star-forming complex, leaving a mark on Earth itself.
As the Sun sailed through the Radcliffe Wave, a vast gas and dust river spanning 9,000 light-years, Earth was bombarded by interstellar dust—compressing the heliosphere and altering our skies.
Credit: ESA
The Orion complex, part of the Radcliffe Wave, was birthing stars as our Solar System passed nearby—plunging us into an intense cosmic environment unlike anything in recent galactic history.
As Earth moved through this dense interstellar region, vast amounts of space dust likely entered our atmosphere, possibly cooling the planet and contributing to global climatic shifts.
Representative pic/NASA
This galactic passage coincides with the Middle Miocene Disruption, a sudden wave of extinctions and global cooling around 14.8–14.5 million years ago—hinting at cosmic causes for life-altering events on Earth.
During this time, Earth's climate cooled sharply, Antarctica’s ice sheet expanded, and ocean life struggled—all possibly triggered by the Solar System's brush with a star-forming nebula.
The influx of interstellar dust may have blocked sunlight, dropping global temperatures—mirroring what would happen during a "cosmic winter" caused by interstellar clouds.
Representative pic/NASA
As we gaze at Orion’s nebula today, we’re staring at the same region our planet passed through 14 million years ago—a reminder of how deep space events shaped Earth's biological history.
Representative pic/NASA
Just as Rahu swallows the Moon in Indian myth, cosmic forces once “swallowed” Earth's climate—our ancient journey through Orion may explain sudden extinctions locked in stone.
Representative pic