Message-Id: <v01540b1eaf6084274c86@[192.174.2.173]>
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 12:12:14 -0800
To: pinhole@exploratorium.edu
From: pauld@exploratorium.edu (Paul Doherty)
Subject: Re: orbit of comets
In reply to Dan Gray re the origin of the Oort cloud.
Another possible scenario is that there was a cloud of gas and dust
pre-solar system. The entire cloud had a net rotation.
The cloud collapses gravitationally when it reaches a critical density (it
is denser in the middle so the middle collapses but the outer regions do
not.)
Due to the rotation it is easier for dust particles to fall in from above
and below the plane of the solar system than it is for them to de-orbit
from in the plane. So the inner solar system collapses to form a plane.
The outer reaches never attain critical collapse density and so are left
behind uniformly distributed in 3-D.
Paul D