» Home > In the News

Oort Clouds

19 August 2018
Astronomy

At https://phys.o9rg/print453635544.html … Oort clouds around other stars should be visible in the cosmic microwave background. For decades astronomers have theorised beyond the edge of the solar system there lies a massive cloud of icy planetisimals known as the Oort Cloud. This cloud, it is thought, is where long term comets originate – but to date no evidence has been provided to confirm its existence. One reason is that the Oort Cloud is difficult to observe – far away from the Sun and dispersed over a large area. However, some astrophysicists have suggested using maps of the cosmic microwave background in order to locate Oort Clouds around other stars. So far no show.

At https://phys.org/print453632183.html …. an aurora seen from space …

  … a birds eye view from the International Space Station.

At https://phys.org/print453714775.html … NASA has modelled a view of the Sun's magnetic field (might actually be from 2017) …

   … the bright active region in the centre of the image shows a concentration of what they call field lines. Magnetism drives the dynamic activity on the Sun's surface we are told (but see also same story at https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/08/17/data-nasas-solar-dynamics-observa… … and this one has the added bonus of lots of comments, including those of solar physicist Leif Svalgaard.

Skip to content