Searching for the Kordylewski Clouds
The most challenging observing targets in the Solar System are located right in our cosmic backyard, yet they can’t be seen through a telescope.
The path that led to their discovery six decades ago can be traced back almost two and a half centuries to attempts to solve the vexing ‘three-body problem’ in celestial mechanics. In 1772 the mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange determined that a relatively small body that shares the orbit of a planet and lies 60° ahead or behind it will maintain its position for an indefinitely long period of time. These Lagrangian points are designated L4 (leading) and L5 (trailing). Forming a pair of equilateral triangles with the planet and the Sun, they are exceptionally stable because
