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Title: A passing star knocks a comet loose from its orbit at the very edge of the Oort Cloud? Post by: SMK on Mar 18, 2013 The new orbit starts at the edge of the Oort cloud and ends in the Sun.
How many years will it take the comet to reach the inner Solar System from the edge of the Oort Cloud? Use Kepler's Third Law to find the comet's new orbital period. Title: A passing star knocks a comet loose from its orbit at the very edge of the Oort Cloud? Post by: Bugrahan on Mar 18, 2013 Do you mean the inner edge, or the outer edge?
If we pick 2000 AU as the inner edge of the Oort Cloud, then the semi-major axis is 44.7 AU. Then we compute T^2 = 44.7^3, so T = 299 years. Round this off to 300 years. |