Refiner of Gold Creations'

Solar System -- Oort Cloud

At the
Most Outer Edge
of Our Solar System
.
Oort Cloud
  • The Oort Cloud lies beyond the orbit of Pluto.
  • It is similar to the asteroid belt:
    • It contains many fragments share the same orbit about the Sun.
  • Most of the orbiting bodies consist of ice covered rock.
  • It is believed to be the source of new comets.
    • "New" comets appear when members of this swarm have their orbits disturbed.
    • This may occur by a passing star.
    • They drop into the inner solar system.
    • Their ices turn into gas.
  • The most famous comet is Halley's Comet.
  • Many others are known as well.
  • Chiron may be one such comet thrown from the swarm of the cold, remote edge of the Solar System.
  • For more information, visit these comets:
For more information on the Oort Cloud and Kuiper Belt, visit:

~ | ~ Flyby Halley's Comet ~ | ~ Flyby Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 ~ | ~ Flyby Chiron ~ | ~
~ | ~ Forward to the Unknown ~ | ~ Back to Pluto ~ | ~
Return to Solar System ~ | ~ Lexicon of Astronomy ~ | ~ Planetary Statistics ~ | ~
Refiner of Gold Creations
1998 Solar System Facts
Created by EMC on 6/23/1997. Updated 5/4/2005.