Numerical Evidence that the Motion of Pluto is Chaotic
Abstract
The Digital Orrery has been used to perform an integration of the motion of the outer planets for 845 million years. This integration indicates that the long-term motion of the planet Pluto is chaotic. Nearby trajectories diverge exponentially with an e-folding time of only about 20 million years.
- Publication:
-
Science
- Pub Date:
- July 1988
- DOI:
- Bibcode:
- 1988Sci...241..433S
- Keywords:
-
- Celestial Mechanics;
- Chaos;
- Eccentric Orbits;
- Pluto (Planet);
- Solar Orbits;
- Astronomical Models;
- Inclination;
- Numerical Integration;
- Orbital Elements;
- Astrophysics