A team of researchers has made a groundbreaking discovery about the mysterious Oort cloud, a shell of icy objects at the edge of our solar system. Using NASA’s supercomputer, they found that the inner structure of the Oort cloud may resemble a spiral disk, with two arms stretching 15,000 astronomical units from end to end. This model suggests that the Oort cloud could be like a miniature galaxy, but its exact shape remains uncertain.
The Oort cloud is thought to have formed around 4.6 billion years ago as the leftover remnants of Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn’s formation. It has two distinct edges, one located between 2,000 to 5,000 astronomical units from the sun, and another at 10,000 to 100,000 AU away.
Due to its extreme distance, direct observation of the Oort cloud is impossible even with powerful telescopes. Instead, scientists rely on long-period comets that originate from the cloud. The researchers built a model by combining data from comet orbits and gravitational forces within and beyond our solar system.
The new study’s findings hint at “galactic tide,” which affects the objects in the Oort cloud but is masked by the sun’s gravity for objects closer to us. To confirm this structure, scientists will need to track comets directly or analyze reflected light from other background sources.
If confirmed, this discovery could help astronomers better understand where comets come from, how our solar system evolved, and the impact of the Oort cloud on its surroundings.
Source: https://www.livescience.com/space/nasa-supercomputer-reveals-strange-spiral-structure-at-the-edge-of-our-solar-system