The Ultimate Fate of the Solar System and the Music of the Spheres

The long-term fate of the planets in our Solar System has intrigued
astronomers and mathematicians for over 300 years. Although the
planetary orbits are often held up as a model of clockwork regularity,
the Solar System is in truth an extremely complex and chaotic
system. Dr. Laughlin will explain how very recent advances in computing
technology have finally given us a solution to the problem.  He will
also show how the delicate gravitational interplay between the planets
can be interpreted as a true "music of the spheres", and will audition
for us the profoundly unsettling compositions that can result in the
event that the planetary orbits go haywire in the extremely
distant future.

Greg Laughlin is a Professor of Astronomy at the University of California
at Santa Cruz. From 199-2001 he worked as a planetary scientist at
NASA's Ames Research Center. He is a leader in the field of detecting
planets around other stars and is also an expert on the long-term fate
of the Earth, the Solar System, the Galaxy, and the Universe. He is
co-author of the popular book "The Five Ages of the Universe: Inside
the Physics of Eternity".