Our Solar System formed some 4.6 billion years ago from a molecular cloud that collapsed. Our proto-Sun formed along with a protoplanetary disk that eventually evolved into the Solar System we have today, complete with the inner, rocky planets, an asteroid belt, the gas giants and their moons and ringed systems, and then the outer Solar System.

Those outer regions sure are interesting, and it's only over the past 3 decades we've really started to learn about them in earnest. I had the opportunity to speak with outer Solar System specialist Michele Bannister, and she agreed to be this month's guest on our podcast. Oh, did an exciting discussion ensure, and we've got over an hour of knowledge for you!

What's the status on how the Solar System formed, on Planet Nine and its alternatives, and what the prospects are for taking the next major steps? Find out on this edition of the Starts With A Bang podcast!

Find Michele here at her current research location: https://pure.qub.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/michele-bannister(c83612a1-80b4-4f78-a9f2-85efe0347d3a).html

And on Twitter @astrokiwi: https://twitter.com/astrokiwi?lang=en