French Scientists See Earth-Venus Collision In Future

June 10, 2009 10:16 p.m. EST

New York, NY (AHN) - French researchers studying the solar system's future using computer simulation saw a potential disruption of Mercury's orbit that may lead to a collision between Earth and Venus billions of years from now.

The result of the study by Jacques Laskar and Mickael Gastineau of the Paris Observatory is published in the Thursday issue of the journal Nature.

The computer simulation involving 2,501 scenarios of planetary orbits led to a large disruption of Mercury's orbit which in turn disrupted the orbits of the three other terrestrial planets, Venus, Earth and Mars.

"You first need Mercury to be destabilized by gravitational interaction with Jupiter, Then this may destabilize Mars, which then can come very close to the Earth. Only then can you have destabilization of Venus' orbit and a collision with the Earth," Laskar told Space.com.

Out of 200 scenarios of Earth and Mars approaching each other, 48 collisions are likely involving Earth, according to the study.