@starwalkapp: 🤓 What is the Oort Cloud? Imagine a giant icy bubble surrounding our Solar System — that’s the Oort Cloud! This distant, spherical shell of icy objects marks the outer boundary of the Sun’s gravitational influence, far beyond Pluto. ☄️ How far is it? The Oort Cloud likely starts 2,000–5,000 AU from the Sun and stretches out to 10,000–100,000 AU. (1 AU = distance from Earth to the Sun.) For comparison, Pluto orbits at just 30–50 AU. It’s THAT far! 🛰️ Fun fact: NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft won’t enter the Oort Cloud for another 300 years, and it’ll take 30,000 years to cross it! 🔭 Why does it matter? Astronomers think the Oort Cloud is the source of long-period comets — icy visitors that swoop into the inner Solar System only once every thousands of years. It was first proposed in 1950 by Jan Oort to explain why these comets keep appearing. 🌌 The outer edge of the Oort Cloud defines the cosmic "edge" of our Solar System — where the Sun’s gravity fades into the influence of the Milky Way. Did you know about this icy cloud? Let us know what surprised you most! 👇 #OortCloud #Astronomy #Comets #SolarSystem #StarWalk #DeepSpace

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Monday 21 July 2025 02:17:30 GMT