Oort Cloud


The Oort Cloud is a hypothetical spherical cloud of icy objects that is believed to be the source of most of the long-period comets that orbit the Sun. It is thought to extend from the outer edge of the Kuiper Belt to as far as halfway to the nearest star, and is estimated to contain trillions of objects. The Oort Cloud is named after Dutch astronomer Jan Oort, who first proposed its existence in 1950 based on observations of comets. Although the Oort Cloud has never been directly observed, its existence is supported by the orbits of long-period comets, which are consistent with having originated from the cloud.


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