Have interstellar clouds disrupted the Oort comet cloud?

Details Have interstellar clouds disrupted the Oort comet cloud? Have interstellar clouds disrupted the Oort comet cloud?

Aug 1985

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1985aj.....90.1548h&link_type=abstract

Astronomical Journal (ISSN 0004-6256), vol. 90, Aug. 1985, p. 1548-1557.

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Computation

59

Binary Stars, Celestial Mechanics, Comets, Hydrogen Clouds, Molecular Clouds, Oort Cloud, Solar System, Computational Astrophysics, Half Life, Interstellar Gas, Orbital Elements, Stars

Scientific paper

Formulas are derived to describe the disruption rate of the Oort comet cloud due to encounters with interstellar clouds and field stars. For a comet with a semimajor axis of 25,000 AU the half-life due to encounters with stars is 3 x 10 to the 9th yr, and for encounters with atomic clouds 5 x 10 to the 10th yr. The results are based on a local molecular gas density of 0.0024 solar mass/cu pc, a mean column density of 10 to the 22nd per sq cm, and a clumpiness factor of 2. It is assumed that the mean density of molecular gas averaged over the solar lifetime was about 1.5 higher than the present density. It is concluded that many of the important parameters of the calculations are uncertain and confirmation that the Oort cloud has survived encounters with comets must await observational results.

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