The Oort Cloud: Crash Course Astronomy #22

From the creator

Now that we’re done with the planets, asteroid belt, and comets, we’re heading to the outskirts of the solar system. Out past Neptune are vast reservoirs of icy bodies that can become comets if they get poked into the inner solar system. The Kuiper Belt is a donut shape aligned with the plane of the solar system; the scattered disk is more eccentric and is the source of short-period comets, and the Oort Cloud which surrounds the solar system out to great distances is the source of long-period comets. These bodies all probably formed closer to the Sun and got flung out to the solar system’s suburbs by gravitational interactions with the outer planets. Check out the Crash Course Astronomy solar system poster here: http://store.dftba.com/products/crashcourse-astronomy-poster -- Chapters: Introduction: Where Do Comets Come From? 00:00 Kuiper Belt, Scattered Disk, and Oort Cloud 2:52 Long-Period Comets come from the Oort Cloud 4:03 Short-Period Comets come from the Scattered Disk 4:27 Pluto, Plutinos, and other Kuiper Belt Objects 4:47 Oort Cloud Objects 8:25 Review 10:38 -- PBS Digital Studios: http://youtube.com/pbsdigitalstudios Follow Phil on Twitter: https://twitter.com/badastronomer Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet? Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/YouTubeCrashCourse Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/TheCrashCourse Tumblr - http://thecrashcourse.tumblr.com Support CrashCourse on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/crashcourse -- PHOTOS/VIDEOS HD Long

Published 2015-06-26 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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