![\"\"](\"https:\/\/teams.issibern.ch\/outermostsolarsystem\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/139\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-24-at-18.05.33-300x238.png\")
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Small Solar System bodies well beyond Neptune \u2013 from Trans-<\/span>Neptunian<\/span> Objects (TNOs) up to the Oort cloud objects \u2013 lie at the interface of the Sun\u2019s sphere of influence and its interstellar environment. Their dynamics is shaped by the gravitational influence of both our Solar System and the stellar and galactic environment in which it evolved over time. Besides, being the most pristine objects, they are tracers of the formation and the dynamical evolution of the outermost part of the Solar System. Indeed, their dynamics is structured by these complex mix of interactions from the inside by the giant planets and on the outside by stellar encounters, and the galactic potential along the orbital evolution of the whole Solar System in the Milky Way. <\/span><\/p>\n We aim to understand how planetary and stellar interactions have shaped the Outermost Solar System since its formation some 4.5 <\/span>Gyr<\/span><\/strong> ago<\/strong>. <\/span>Our approach is based on combining the knowledge gained <\/span>by <\/span>observational advances on the populations of TNOs and comets (mostly from recent surveys and the soon-to-start Rubin\/LSST), together with a state-of-art knowledge and modelling of the local stellar and galactic environment (much of which has come from the Gaia mission). We will develop dedicated numerical N-body simulations, taking into account all relevant gravitational interactions, and comparing the outputs to observed orbital distributions of these small bodies.<\/span> By bringing together world-experts on galactic dynamics, stellar populations, Solar System dynamics and observations, we <\/span>provide the ideal conditions to achieve a deeper<\/span>understanding of the environment in which the Solar System has evolved, and test models for the formation of the Oort cloud.<\/span><\/p>\n By using computational tools and observational datasets, there are several general questions we will address in this collaborative work: <\/span><\/p>\n Small Solar System bodies well beyond Neptune \u2013 from Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) up to the Oort cloud objects \u2013 lie at the interface of the Sun\u2019s sphere of influence and its interstellar environment. Their dynamics is shaped by the gravitational influence of both our Solar System and the stellar and galactic environment in which it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teams.issibern.ch\/outermostsolarsystem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teams.issibern.ch\/outermostsolarsystem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teams.issibern.ch\/outermostsolarsystem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teams.issibern.ch\/outermostsolarsystem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teams.issibern.ch\/outermostsolarsystem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/teams.issibern.ch\/outermostsolarsystem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99,"href":"https:\/\/teams.issibern.ch\/outermostsolarsystem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/99"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teams.issibern.ch\/outermostsolarsystem\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u2022 <\/span>What is the influence of the stellar and galactic environment?<\/span><\/strong> What are the characteristics of the Sun\u2019s birth stellar cluster? What influence did the environment, galactic structure and galactic potential have since then? What are the details of recent and future individual stellar close encounters? <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u2022 <\/span>What are the observational constraints given by the small bodies?<\/span><\/strong> What is the influence of planetary perturbations at the early stages? What is the origin and distribution of extreme TNOs (sednoids and other high-perihelion objects)? What is the mass ratio between the scattered disc and the Oort cloud?<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nInternational Team was selected in June 2025<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"