Existence of collisional trajectories of Mercury, Mars and Venus with the Earth

Nature 459, 817-819 (11 June 2009)
Existence of collisional trajectories of Mercury, Mars and Venus with the Earth
J. Laskar & M. Gastineau

Amazing sensitivity to initial conditions!


Evolution of the maximum eccentricity of Mercury (computed over 1-Myr intervals) over 5 Gyr. a, Pure Newtonian model without the contribution of the Moon, for 201 solutions with initial conditions that differ by only 3.8 cm in the semi-major axis of Mercury. b, Full Solar System model with relativistic and lunar contributions, for 2,501 solutions with initial conditions that differ by only 0.38 mm in the semi-major axis of Mercury.