The Oort Cloud is a theorized spherical shell of icy planetesimals surrounding the solar system at 2,000 to 200,000 astronomical units from the Sun, proposed by Dutch astronomer Jan Oort in 1950 to explain the steady supply of long-period comets entering the inner solar system.
Facts
Object TypeTheorized rather than directly observed; its existence is inferred from the orbits of long-period comets. Discovery YearYear Jan Oort proposed the cloud's existence; it has not been directly observed. Sources
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationEntity description, oort-cloud catalogue classificationQuote, Entity description, oort-cloud catalogue classification
The Oort Cloud is a theorized spherical shell of icy planetesimals surrounding the solar system at 2,000 to 200,000 astronomical units from the Sun, proposed by Dutch astronomer Jan Oort in 1950 to explain the steady supply of long-period comets entering the inner solar system.
Oort cloud (Wikipedia)
en.wikipedia.org, Oort cloud, lead section
Oort proposed that the bodies in this cloud replenish and keep constant the number of long-period comets entering the inner Solar System.
In Group: Solar System Belts, Clouds and Small Trans-Neptunian Bodies, Lead: kind of object
is theorized to be a cloud of billions of icy planetesimals surrounding the Sun
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