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Science 22 July 1988:
Vol. 241. no. 4864, pp. 433 - 437
DOI: 10.1126/science.241.4864.433
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Articles

Numerical Evidence That the Motion of Pluto Is Chaotic

GERALD JAY SUSSMAN 1 and JACK WISDOM 2

1 Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139.
2 Department of Earth Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139.

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.

Submitted on May 5, 1988
Accepted on June 29, 1988


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Origin of Chaos in the Outer Solar System.
N. Murray and M. Holman (1999)
Science 283, 1877-1881
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Chaotic Evolution of the Solar System.
G. J. Sussman, G. J. Sussman, and J. Wisdom (1992)
Science 257, 56-62
   Abstract »    PDF »
Does Chaos Permeate the Solar System?: As faster computers allow celestial mechanicians longer looks at the behavior of the planets, chaos is turning up everywhere.
R. A. Kerr and R. A. KERR (1989)
Science 244, 144-145
   PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)