NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
The Evolution and Disruption of Planetary SystemsPlanetary systems that encounter passing stars can experience severe orbital disruption, and the efficiency of this process is greatly enhanced when the impinging systems are binary pairs rather than single stars. Using a Monte Carlo approach, we have performed nearly half a million numerical experiments to examine the long term ramifications of planetary scattering on planetary systems. We have concluded that systems which form in dense environments such as Orion's Trapezium cluster have roughly a ten percent chance of being seriously disrupted. We have also used our programs to explore the long-term prospects for our own Solar system. Given the current interstellar environment, we have computed the odds that Earth will find its orbit seriously disrupted prior to the emergence of a runaway greenhouse effect driven by the Sun's increasing luminosity. This estimate includes both direct disruption events and scattering processes that seriously alter the orbits of the Jovian planets, which then force severe changes upon the Earth's orbit. We then explore the consequences of the Earth being thrown into deep space. The surface biosphere would rapidly shut down under conditions of zero insolation, but the Earth's radioactive heat is capable of maintaining life deep underground, and perhaps in hydrothermal vent communities, for some time to come. Although unlikely for the Earth, this scenario may be common throughout the universe, since many environments where liquid water could exist (e.g., Europa and Callisto) must derive their energy from internal (rather than external) heating.
Document ID
20000121338
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Laughlin, Gregory
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA United States)
DeVincenzi, Donald L.
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2000
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Meeting Information
Meeting: Astriobiology
Location: Moffett Field, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: April 3, 2000
End Date: April 5, 2000
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available