Observations and computer simulations of their orbits and interactions with planets yield insights into the asteroids’ dynamic lives. People tend to think of the solar system as a static environment, in which the orbits of the planets, asteroids, and comets have remained the same over its lifetime. But although its current architecture has existed for roughly the past 4.5 billion years, the solar system is far from the unvarying environment that we imagine.

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Dr. Sarah Greenstreet is a senior researcher with the B612 Asteroid Institute and the DiRAC Institute at the University of Washington. Her research interests include the study of orbital dynamics and impacts of small bodies in the Solar System.