When did astronomers found the Oort cloud?

Answer 1

A dutch astronomer called Jan Hendrik Oort in 1950.

However, the idea was first speculated in 1932 by an Estonian astronomer called Ernst Öpik.

See related link for more information.

Answer 2

Not yet. The Oort Cloud is a hypothetical region of space far beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto that some scientists suspect may be the place that comets come from.

Which makes sense; no comet can survive more than a few thousand passes by the Sun, because the Sun's heat melts and vaporizes the volatile compounds that form its tail. And since the Sun and the entire solar system is around 4.5 billion years old, that means that any comet that we see now - and there are still comets - has been hanging around SOMEWHERE for the first 4 billion years of the solar system's existence waiting for its turn.

We have no actual evidence - other than the presence of comets occasionally - that the Oort Cloud exists, or what any of its properties might be. And it would be difficult and costly to launch any probes so far into space to look for it, so it probably won't happen any time soon.

Answer 3

The idea of a "cloud" of cometary material in a distant orbit around the Sun was proposed by the dutch astronomer Jan Oort. The "Oort Cloud" is named in his honor.

Answer 4

They haven't found it yet - they just calculated where it must be.

Answer 5

Nobody has FOUND the Oort cloud yet; it has been HYPOTHESIZED to exist, and there are good reasons to believe it actually exists.

Answer 6

The existence of such a cloud was proposed in 1932 by the Estonian astronomer Ernst Öpik. The idea was revived by the Dutch astronomer Jan Oort in 1950.