Dr. Stu Weidenschilling

Dr. Stuart Weidenschilling conducts theoretical research on the origin of the solar system. He is particularly interested in the aerodynamic interactions of solid paricles and gas in the primordial solar nebula, and their implications for the formation of planetesimals from microscopic dust grains.. He developed a numerical code that models coagulation of grains into larger bodies, taking account their mechanical properties and motions induced by gas drag and turbulence. He has used this code to investigate the formation of small bodies in the solar system, such as asteroids and comets. He has also studied models for the origin of chondrules, the small spherical igneous particles found in many types of metrorites.Dr. Weidenschilling has also conducted numerical simulations of the accretion of planetesimals into planets, using a unique multi-zone computer code that models collisions and gravitational interactions of bodies ranging in size from a few meters to thousands of kilometers. He has used this code to investigate the formation and thermal histories of asteroids, the evolution of comets in the Kuiper belt, and the formation of giant planets in the outer solar system, as well as extra-solar planets.