Abstract
The Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB), together with the Great Archean Bombardment on Earth, constitutes an epoch of intense cratering on the terrestrial planets and the Moon approximately 500 Myr after their formation. Here I present evidence for the LHB having occurred and demonstrate that this had to coincide with a major event in the solar system. The most likely explanation is an instability in the outer solar system with the giant planets scattering each other onto eccentric orbits.
This scattering event destabilised asteroids from the now-empty E-belt asteroid belt directly outside Mars and sent them towards the terrestrial planets. The intensity, duration and latest models for the bombardment are discussed.
Coffee and tea will be served 20 minutes prior to the seminar.