The Oort Cloud

Do you want to know where the comets come from? scientists believe that Oort cloud located around the solar system is the hub of all the comets we have seen and we are going to see in the future.

Jan Oort (28 April 1900 – 5 November 1992) was a dutch astronomer who first introduced the ice bodies. The Oort cloud was formed when some debris of big bang used in the process of making planets and sun lost some of their gravitational force and because of the newly formed giant planet Jupiter they were pulled away to the outer side of the solar system.

Oort cloud is thought to be at a distance of around 5,000 to 100,000 astronomical units. 1 AU is equal to the distance between Sun and Earth. Composition of Oort cloud is of ammonia, methane and ice unlike other asteroids. Although Oort cloud is hypothetical, scientists consider it the most logical explanation to where the comets come from because comets just can't form in their orbits nor one comet can orbit forever. Gaia a space observatory of European Space Agency (ESA) is working to make a three-dimensional map of our galaxy, milky way. Scientists at Gaia are using their telescope to determine the presence of Oort cloud. there are two categories of these ice bodies. One is the outer cloud called the Oort cloud which is spherical in shape. The other is a Kuiper belt which is a circumstellar disc rotating the sun at high speed. Pluto is part of the Kuiper belt. Difference between Oort cloud and Kuiper belt is that Kuiper belt can be seen beyond Saturn's orbit while Oort cloud's presence is yet to be proved.

“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” ― Carl Sagan

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