Chapter 1520: Oort Cloud

Chapter 1520 Oort Cloud

Zhao Zhongyao knows that space exploration can only be carried out if the safety work is done in place. Space exploration is simply not possible without proper safety work. Zhao Zhongyao knows that what they are doing now is to make them safer when they are exploring in space.

In order to ensure that no problems will be encountered during space exploration. Zhao Zhongyao decided to design an expedition route first. Then you have to launch some detectors first. First let the detector to explore the way.

Zhao Zhongyao and the others are already familiar with the matter of launching detectors. It is just to design what kind of expedition route. Zhao Zhongyao wants to discuss with the two children.

‘Feifei Tiantian, what kind of tourist route do you think we should design. 'Zhao Zhongyao looked at Feifei and Tiantian and said.

After hearing what Zhao Zhongyao said, Feifei said, ‘Of course all the big planets in the solar system must be detected. We want to mine, and we also want to mine on the big planet. '

‘Yes, if we want to mine, we still need to mine on the big planet. Only in this way can we get more ore samples. ’ Said the same every day.

'Okay, then let's discuss the route of our travel adventure this time! After the discussion, we can start launching the unmanned probe. Zhao Zhongyao looked at the two children and said.

'I think we'll start with the Moon this time, then Venus and Mercury, then Mars Jupiter Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. After that, we will go to Pluto, which was expelled from the planetary family. After that, we will go to the outer solar system to see. Feifei looked at Zhao Zhongyao and said.

‘That’s right, this time, we not only want to see the inner solar system. Also go to the outer solar system to see. Tiantian also looked at Zhao Zhongyao and said.

After hearing what the two children said, Zhao Zhongyao said again,'Okay, just as you said, we will go to the eight planets and the outer solar system to see. '

Qu Yuqian didn't speak for a long time. Now I also looked at Zhao Zhongyao and said, 'Then let's take a look at the Kuiper zone, are there many asteroids there? '

After hearing what Qu Yuqian said, Zhao Zhongyao also said, 'Of course, we must go to the Kuiper area to see. Not only to the Kuiper field to see. We also have to visit the Oort Cloud. That's where we're headed this time. '

Feifei and Tiantian became very curious after hearing what their father said. Feifei said again, 'Dad, does the Oort Cloud really exist? Could it be just a legend. '

'yes! Dad's place has always been a guess. Who knows if such a place actually exists. ’ Said the same every day.

'Is that a mere conjecture. This time we're going to check this place out. If there are not many dirty snowballs, it means that this Oort cloud is just a guess. If there are many icy comets, it means that the Oort cloud is real. If we discovered the Oort cloud this time, we would have made a great contribution to the astronomical cause of our earth humans. Zhao Zhongyao looked at the two children and said.

‘Dad, why do you say that, is this Oort cloud really important to us! ’ Feifei has also heard about the Oort cloud. But he didn't understand the importance of this Oort cloud to humans on earth.

'yes! Dad, do you know this Oort cloud well? So can you explain it to us. 'Tian Tian also looked at Dad and said.

‘Okay, then I will explain to you about this Oort cloud! 'Zhao Zhongyao looked at Feifei and Tiantian and said.

After hearing Zhao Zhongyao's words, Qu Yuqian was also a little curious, so she also sat next to the two children, wanting to listen to Zhao Zhongyao talk about this Oort cloud together.

Zhao Zhongyao told the children something about this magical Oort cloud. Feifei, Tiantian and Qu Yuqian listened very carefully.

Next, Zhao Zhongyao talked about something about the Oort Cloud.

‘To talk about this Oort cloud, we have to start with the weird celestial bodies in the solar system like comets. In general, ordinary planets are spherical. Whether it is a large planet or an asteroid, it is the same. Almost a spherical shape. Of course, the smaller the planet, the less standardized its rules. Because small planets are always hit by other asteroids. It is difficult for them to be a spherical shape in this way.

But the big planets are different. Large planets are very large due to their size. When a general asteroid hits a large planet, it will not have a great impact on the shape of the large planet. The large planet will still be a relatively round ellipse.

But asteroids are different. Asteroids are relatively small due to their small size. If it is hit by another planet, it will definitely change some shapes. Let the shape of the asteroid be all kinds of strange things. It is difficult to have a relatively round shape.

But no matter what. Whether it is a large planet or an asteroid. As long as it is a rocky planet, it is basically an irregular circle. But comets are weird. The shape of such a celestial body changes dramatically as it approaches the sun. There will be a long tail. It's like a big broom. Therefore, we ordinary people call this kind of star broom star.

But astronomers are unwilling to name this kind of asteroid with such an ugly name, but name it with a better name. Astronomers call broom stars comets.

Where comets come from is a fascinating question, and a puzzling one. When astronomers are studying the origin of comets, they often need to conduct statistical analysis on the orbits of comets to see how they are affected by the atmosphere.

What is the orbit of the planet before the gravitational perturbation, from which to find the law. In 1950, the Dutch astronomer Oort made statistics on the original orbits of 41 long-period comets and believed that there was a huge "ice bank" outside the orbit of Pluto, or a huge "cloud cluster". This cloud extends to a place about 2.2 billion kilometers away from the sun.

All comets in the solar system come from this cloud, so people call it comet cloud or Oort cloud. Today, the distance of the Oort Cloud is generally set at about 150,000 AU, roughly 4,000 times the distance to Pluto. It takes more than two years for the fastest light to come to our solar system from there, so it takes a long time for the comets here to go around the sun, and they can only be recognized when they are hundreds of millions of kilometers away from the sun. See. They spend the vast majority of their time in orbit away from the sun.

Take comet Ikegani-Seki as an example. Its speed is 500 kilometers per second near the perihelion, and it only takes two hours to complete the half close to the sun, but it takes more than 1,000 years to complete the side far away from the sun. The cycle of Comet Ikegani-Guan is not too long, and some long-period comets take millions of years to travel for one week. Therefore, although astronomers estimate that there may be 100 billion comets in the Oort comet cloud, only five or six comets are discovered each year around the world.

Because the comet cloud is very far away from the sun, the big and round sun cannot be seen from the position of the comet cloud. The sun has really become a veritable "ordinary star", and its brightness is dimmer than that of Sirius seen from the earth. But the comet cloud is unimaginably far away from other stars. The comet cloud does not get the light and heat of any stars, so it is like an "iceberg". The comet comes from this iceberg, and the visitors on these icebergs themselves are also large and small icebergs, the largest ones are more than 10 kilometers in diameter, more spectacular than Mount Everest, the highest peak on earth, and the smallest ones are only tens of meters. These icebergs are all made up of a large amount of ice material mixed with dust. In addition to most of the ice substances are water ice, there are carbon monoxide ice, carbon dioxide ice (dry ice), ammonia ice and methane ice.

Because there is a lot of dust mixed in the ice material, the iceberg looks gray and black, not as crystal clear and lovely as the Antarctic icebergs we see on TV. American astronomer Whipple gave them a very vivid name, called "dirty snowballs". Due to the disturbance of the original comet by the stars passing by the sun's vicinity, the comet with low mass leaves the comet cloud, turns around, or runs outside the solar system, or flies towards the interior of the solar system. Most comets follow hyperbolic or parabolic orbits when heading towards the sun. After thousands of years of long journey, they are captured by people with telescopes when they are getting closer and closer to the sun.

The orbits of some comets are perturbed when they meet with the big planets, turning into elliptical orbits, changing from non-periodic comets to new periodic comets, and begin to "settle down" in the solar system. In 1958, some astronomers in the United States believed that there was another storehouse of comets in the solar system, the so-called "Kuiper Comet Belt". This ring-shaped comet belt is not far from the orbit of Neptune, and it is estimated that there are at least a few thousand comets in the belt. All short-period comets come from this comet library. Compared with the Oort cloud, this comet belt is much closer to the earth.

After the Kuiper Belt was proposed, some astronomers observed this area with large telescopes, but found nothing. There are three possibilities. The first possibility is that there are not as many comets in the Kuiper belt as expected, the second possibility is that the Kuiper belt may be located farther away, and the third possibility is that there is no Kuiper belt at all. The Kuiper belt is also something people imagined. But no matter what, this kind of thing can only be known after field investigation.

Now astronomers on earth have discovered some mysterious celestial bodies in the outer solar system. Astronomers call them celestial bodies because they are not sure whether they are planets, asteroids, or comets, but they are still a remarkable and important discovery in astronomy.

The movement and internal structure of comets have not been fully understood by astronomers. Therefore, whether it is the Oort cloud or the Kuiper belt, it is a hypothesis of the origin of comets, which has not yet been confirmed. The consensus among astronomers is that the period when comets formed from the primordial solar nebula is basically the same as the period when the sun and planets were formed, and that comets are a natural by-product of the creation of the solar system.

Regarding the origin of comets, it can be said that there are different opinions, and up to now there is no more consistent opinion. There is an opinion that volcanic eruptions on celestial bodies in the solar system throw a large amount of matter into space, and comets are formed from these materials. This kind of view can be called "eruption theory". Another view called "collision theory" holds that in a very distant age, certain two celestial bodies in the solar system collided with each other, and a large amount of fragmented matter produced thereby formed comets in the solar system. There are some inexplicable problems in these hypotheses, and it is difficult to be recognized by most astronomers.

In any case, mysterious comets always carry some special imaginations of human beings. The reason why we call it a comet is because it is very likely to be an alien visitor who sowed the seeds of life on the earth.

Life on our planet may not have been conceived by the planet itself. It is very likely that it is a kind of life seed from outside the sky. After it fell on the earth, it took root, germinated, scattered branches and blossomed here. Life on our planet has been rich and colorful since then.

Although the solar system is just an ordinary-looking star system in our galaxy. But for us humans, that is so important. We human astronomers. The most studied celestial bodies are the celestial bodies in our solar system.

Although compared to the outer star systems, the celestial bodies in our solar system are already very close to our earth. But even so, if we humans want to roam in the solar system, we must

It takes a long time. After all, the solar system is really too big compared to the earth-moon system. It is difficult to travel in the solar system without a fast enough spacecraft.

Fortunately, we now have an antimatter spacecraft, and we can now travel in the solar system. 'Zhao Zhongyao looked at Feifei Tiantian and Qu Yuqian and expressed his views on the solar system.

After hearing what Zhao Zhongyao said, Feifei Tiantian and Qu Yuqian became curious about mysterious celestial bodies like comets.

Dad, let's travel to the solar system as soon as possible! I really want to see what a comet looks like with my own eyes. Feifei looked at Zhao Zhongyao and said.

‘Dad, I also want to see what a comet looks like, let’s travel to the solar system as soon as possible! ’ Said the same every day.

‘Zhongyao, let’s hurry up and travel in the solar system! I also want to see what the solar system looks like. ’ Qu Yuqian also said the same.

'Okay, then I will go back to the company tomorrow, launch the detector first and explore the way first. ' Zhao Zhongyao said.

That is, Zhao Zhongyao and the others designed a very advanced antimatter spacecraft. That made their trip to the solar system possible.

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