The Oort Cloud: what little is known
Link here. This is one of the best articles on the theorized Oort Cloud, in that right off the bat the author recognizes this important fact:
We know so little about it that its very existence is theoretical — the material that makes up this cloud has never been glimpsed by even our most powerful telescopes, except when some of it breaks free.
The cloud’s existence is extrapolated from the arrival of long period comets, and seems to make sense. Yet, without any direct observations it remains a theory only, and an unproven one at that.
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Link here. This is one of the best articles on the theorized Oort Cloud, in that right off the bat the author recognizes this important fact:
We know so little about it that its very existence is theoretical — the material that makes up this cloud has never been glimpsed by even our most powerful telescopes, except when some of it breaks free.
The cloud’s existence is extrapolated from the arrival of long period comets, and seems to make sense. Yet, without any direct observations it remains a theory only, and an unproven one at that.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
“Konstantin Batygin: Planet 9 and the Edge of Our Solar System”
Lex Fridman Podcast #201 (7-19-21)
https://youtu.be/tm7poMupE8k
2:39:53
As the article states, the estimate is that it will take 300 years for Voyager to reach the inner edge of the Oort Cloud. I’ve read elsewhere it would possibly take 30,000 years to fly beyond the outer edge. That boggles the mind.
The existence of the Oort Cloud seems to be entirely theoretical; no observational evidence has been reported, as far as I can tell. It was hypothecated in order to get around the problem arising from the incontrovertible fact that comets deteriorate too rapidly to support claims of “billions and billions of years” theory of the age of the universe. Again, this is as far as I can tell from a review of the literature.
Steve (retired/recovering lawyer) wrote: “The existence of the Oort Cloud seems to be entirely theoretical;”
Hypothetical, yes. It and the Kuiper Belt were hypothesized as attempts to explain comets that have very high aphelions. Some comets that come from far away are well out of the plane of the rest of the planets (hypothetically from the Oort Cloud, a spherical volume), and some that are not quite so far away seem to be close to that plane (hypothetically from the Kuiper Belt, roughly a disk). Both are volumes of space around the Sun rather than known collections of comets, asteroids, planetoids, etc.