Astro and Planetary Science

Understanding how the Solar System formed and why its planets, moons, and small bodies ended up with their particular compositions requires piecing together evidence from sources as varied as ancient meteorites, the icy plumes venting from Saturn's moon Enceladus, and the spectral signatures of asteroid families. Researchers compare the elemental and isotopic abundances locked in chondritic meteorites — some of the oldest solid material in the Solar System — with what we observe in terrestrial planets, giant planets, and cometary nuclei to reconstruct the sequence of events that shaped the early solar nebula. A central challenge is pinning down the precise chronology of planetary accretion and differentiation, including when and how the giant planets migrated in ways that scattered smaller bodies throughout the Kuiper Belt and inner Solar System. Active directions include characterizing the organic chemistry of comets and primitive asteroids to assess whether such bodies delivered prebiotic molecules to early Earth, and interpreting the water-rich, chemically complex material escaping from ocean-harboring moons like Enceladus.

Works

323,348

Total citations

2,875,902

Keywords

Solar System AbundancesTerrestrial PlanetsGiant PlanetsCometary CompositionAsteroid TaxonomyPlanetary Chronology