How does the effective zone of stability for an Earth-like planet in a cluster core compare to the stability in our Solar System?
Answer
The effective zone of stability is shrunk down to a very tight inner region due to increased destabilizing encounters.
For every AU of potentially habitable space in a cluster core, there is a vastly increased probability of a gravitational encounter destabilizing that orbit, effectively limiting the region where a planet can remain stably bound.
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