Astrophysics in the Next Decade

Abstract

We discuss the current knowledge of the solar system, focusing on bodies in the outer regions, on the information they provide concerning solar system formation, and on the possible relationships that may exist between our system and the debris disks of other stars. Beyond the domains of the terrestrial and giant planets, the comets in the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud preserve some of our most pristine materials. The Kuiper belt, in particular, is a collisional dust source and a scientific bridge to the dusty "debris disks" observed around many nearby main-sequence stars. Study of the solar system provides a level of detail that we cannot discern in the distant disks while observations of the disks may help to set the solar system in proper context.