Studies in Planet Formation and Evolution

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How did the planets form? When and where? Were there ever other planets in the outer regions of our Solar System, and is it possible that there still are? What can the distant satellites of the giant planets tell us about the formation of these jovian planets? How do we combine the knowledge of studies of our own Solar System with the information we are gathering in studying disks and planets around other stars? How did the small-body populations of our Solar System form and evolve? Does their current size distribution tell us anything about how 'planetesimals' and then planets formed? This NSERC grant will support a suite of research over the next 5 years related to these questions. A cutting-edge survey will peer deeply into our outer Solar System to explore the record of planet formation and planet migration preserved in the orbital structure of our Solar System. During the same period Canadian Space Agency's NEOSSat space telescope will be squinting near our Sun to look for asteroids that have survived the hazardous journey past Earth and Venus to approach our star. Computer simulations will be used to support these observational projects and others around planet-hosting nearby stars, to understand how planets are assembled.