Speaker: David Jewitt, University of Hawaii

Title: The New Solar System

Abstract: Our perception of the Solar System, particularly its outer parts, has changed greatly in the last 15 years. We now recognize three major domains, those of the rocky planets, the giant planets and the comets, and we are beginning to understand the connections and inter-relations between them. The region beyond Neptune, in particular, has emerged as a rich repository of clues about the formation and early evolution of the solar system. The so-called Kuiper Belt is a major source of comets and contains some of the least thermally processed matter within observational reach. The Kuiper Belt is also a local counterpart of the 'debris disks' that are observed to encircle some nearby main-sequence stars. I will present a broadly accessible view of the new solar system, highlighting the connections and focussing on recent work that seems to be important.

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