Actually, the person you replied to is correct. The Oort Cloud is still a hypothesis. This is from Universe Today:
>For thousands of years, astronomers have watched comets travel close to Earth and light up the night sky. In time, these observations led to a number of paradoxes. For instance, where were these comets all coming from? And if their surface material vaporizes as they approach the Sun (thus forming their famous halos), they must formed farther away, where they would have existed there for most of their lifespans.
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>In time, these observations led to the theory that far beyond the Sun and planets, there exists a large cloud of icy material and rock where most of these comets come from. This existence of this cloud, which is known as the Oort Cloud (after its principal theoretical founder), remains unproven. But from the many short and long-period comets that are believed to have come from there, astronomers have learned a great deal about it structure and composition.
Voyager 1 will reach it in about 300 years, but unfortunately, it won't have the ability/power to report its findings back to us.
VeryFarDown t1_jefeaat wrote
Reply to comment by [deleted] in Extremely flat explosion dubbed 'the Cow' puzzles scientists while they work to learn more by thawingSumTendies
Actually, the person you replied to is correct. The Oort Cloud is still a hypothesis. This is from Universe Today:
>For thousands of years, astronomers have watched comets travel close to Earth and light up the night sky. In time, these observations led to a number of paradoxes. For instance, where were these comets all coming from? And if their surface material vaporizes as they approach the Sun (thus forming their famous halos), they must formed farther away, where they would have existed there for most of their lifespans.
>
>In time, these observations led to the theory that far beyond the Sun and planets, there exists a large cloud of icy material and rock where most of these comets come from. This existence of this cloud, which is known as the Oort Cloud (after its principal theoretical founder), remains unproven. But from the many short and long-period comets that are believed to have come from there, astronomers have learned a great deal about it structure and composition.
Voyager 1 will reach it in about 300 years, but unfortunately, it won't have the ability/power to report its findings back to us.