”The Long-term stability of Planetary Systems”

In this talk, Scott Tremaine, astrophysicist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, explores how the orbits in our Solar System have evolved over billions of years and what current models suggest about their very long-term future. He explains how, thanks to the power of supercomputers and advanced algorithms, it is now possible to simulate planetary dynamics over geological timescales and to investigate scenarios of orbital stability or chaos. Tremaine addresses key questions such as the historical evolution of Earth’s orbit, the factors shaping planetary distribution in a system, and what properties may be common in other planetary systems.

This lecture, delivered in March 2014, is part of the astrophysics series ‘The Science of the Cosmos, the Science in the Cosmos’. This series tackles the fundamental questions in contemporary astrophysics.The discovery of the earliest g

In this talk, Scott Tremaine, astrophysicist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, explores how the orbits in our Solar System have evolved over billions of years and what current models suggest about their very long-term future. He explains how, thanks to the power of supercomputers and advanced algorithms, it is now possible to simulate planetary dynamics over geological timescales and to investigate scenarios of orbital stability or chaos. Tremaine addresses key questions such as the historical evolution of Earth’s orbit, the factors shaping planetary distribution in a system, and what properties may be common in other planetary systems.

This lecture, delivered in March 2014, is part of the astrophysics series ‘The Science of the Cosmos, the Science in the Cosmos’. This series tackles the fundamental questions in contemporary astrophysics.The discovery of the earliest galaxies, the search for signs of life in the universe, the long-term stability of planetary systems and the study of starquakes are some of the issues examined in the third edition.