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Astronomy
intermediate

Chaotic Evolution of the Solar System

Gerald Jay Sussman & Jack Wisdom (1992)

Published
Jul 3, 1992
Journal
Science · Vol. 257 · No. 5066
DOI
10.1126/science.257.5066.56

At a GlanceAI

100 Myr integrations show Solar System chaos with ~4 Myr Lyapunov time, including robust chaos in Pluto and the Jovian subsystem.

SummaryAI

The authors numerically integrate the full Solar System for nearly 100 million years and confirm that planetary motion is chaotic, with exponential divergence on a ~4 million year timescale. They also find chaos within the Jovian planet subsystem, while noting that small model variations can instead produce quasiperiodic behavior. Pluto’s motion is shown to be independently and robustly chaotic. This work helped establish long-term Solar System predictability limits that are central to interpreting slow (secular) dynamical evolution.

Method SnapshotAI

Long-term numerical integration of a Solar System model with additional sensitivity/variant experiments to assess chaos.

BackgroundAI

Basic celestial mechanics, long-term (secular) planetary dynamics, and the concept of dynamical chaos/Lyapunov time.