New simulations suggest that the planets’ orbits will destabilize well before the Sun expands into its red giant phase.

A solar flare, captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory on 2 October 2014.

NASA / SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams

Isaac Newton suspected that the gravitational dance between the Sun and Jupiter would eventually destabilize the solar system, but modern computational research has shown that its long-term stability is, statistically, pretty secure. However, new simulations with more realistic solar mass-loss conditions make a strong case for the disassembly of the outer solar system — and on timescales much shorter than previously thought.

Kick It Up a Notch

Final outer planet orbital configurations for two simulations — one stable and one unstable. t=0 at the onset of white dwarf formation.

Adapted from Batygin et al.…