http://www.aanda.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=735&Itemid=277&lang=en_GB.utf8%2C+en_GB.UT
"Astronomy & Astrophysics is publishing a new study of the orbital evolution of minor planets Ceres and Vesta, a few days before the Dawn spacecraft enters Vesta's orbit. A team of astronomers found that close encounters among these bodies lead to strong chaotic behavior of their orbits, as well as of the Earth's eccentricity. This means, in particular, that the Earth's past orbit cannot be reconstructed beyond 60 million years. Although small, Ceres and Vesta gravitationally interact together and with the other planets of the Solar System... these effects do not average out. Consequently, the bodies leave their initial orbits and, more importantly, their orbits are chaotic, meaning that we cannot predict their positions... Last but not least, Ceres and Vesta gravitationally interact with the Earth, whose orbit also becomes unpredictable after only 60 million years. This means that the Earth's eccentricity, which affects the large climatic variations on its surface, cannot be traced back more than 60 million years ago." Free acces to the full article can be found at: http://www.aanda.org/index.php?option=com_article&access=doi&doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201117504&Itemid=129 Those sneaky minor, er, dwarf planets! You can't tell what they'll get up to next! Sterling K. Webb ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
