79
Where do comets come from?
Long period comets:
The Oort Cloud
•
Most (original) orbits
have aphelions of
>1000
AU
•
•
Need ~6 trillion comets
out there to produce
number seen in here
•
Total mass of 38 M
Earth
•
•
Passing stars deflect
comets in from the cloud
The New Solar System,
Beatty et al.
¼ to 1
parsec