Highly stable evolution of Earth's future orbit despite chaotic behavior of the solar system
- School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1000 Pope Road, MSB 629, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)
Due to the chaotic nature of the solar system, the question of its dynamic long-term stability can only be answered in a statistical sense, for instance, based on numerical ensemble integrations of nearby orbits. Destabilization of the inner planets, including catastrophic encounters and/or collisions involving the Earth, has been suggested to be initiated through a large increase in Mercury’s eccentricity (e{sub M}), with an estimated probability of ∼1%. However, it has recently been shown that the statistics of numerical solar system integrations are sensitive to the accuracy and type of numerical algorithm. Here, I report results from computationally demanding ensemble integrations (N = 1600 with slightly different initial conditions) at unprecedented accuracy based on the full equations of motion of the eight planets and Pluto over 5 Gyr, including contributions from general relativity. The standard symplectic algorithm used for long-term integrations produced spurious results for highly eccentric orbits and during close encounters, which were hence integrated with a suitable Bulirsch–Stoer algorithm, specifically designed for these situations. The present study yields odds for a large increase in Mercury’s eccentricity that are less than previous estimates. Strikingly, in two solutions, Mercury continued on highly eccentric orbits (after reaching e{sub M} values >0.93) for 80–100 Myr before colliding with Venus or the Sun. Most importantly, none of the 1600 solutions led to a close encounter involving the Earth or a destabilization of Earth’s orbit in the future. I conclude that Earth’s orbit will be dynamically highly stable for billions of years in the future, despite the chaotic behavior of the solar system.
- OSTI ID:
- 22882471
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 811, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Since 2009, the country of publication for this journal is the UK.; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
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