What are some reasons we need to fully understand what the Oort Cloud is, and consists of?
by 
Chris
ANSWERS: 4
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Am I really that sleep deprived or are we talking about a cloud? Can you elaborate and forgive my tired confusion? :)
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It consists of a lot of big comets, and we need to understand their paths. One of these comets could approach Earth from the direction of the sun with very little warning. Its also a consideration for unmanned probes
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It's kind of important to know all this information to avoid unnecessary collisions when you go into warp, dude! :)
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We must study the Oort cloud as our knowledge is very limited in this area of astronomy. The hypothesis is that it is some 1 light year away from the Sun and consists of orbiting comet type of matter. Oort cloud is also credited to be the source of all comets that have orbits known or unknown to scientists. For instance the orbit of Haley's comet is established to the extent that we know how often it comes close to earth. But there are numerous other comet like particles that keep entering the Earth's atmosphere but get burnt out due to friction with air before reaching the earth surface. Still we have evidence of craters formed by comet hits all over the Earth's land surface. Who knows how many more crashed into the sea. So an understanding of the Oort cloud is essential to study any large comet leaving it and to forecast the possibility of its coming dangerously close to earth that Earth's gravity might pull it towards us resulting in an impact in a highly polulated area. The problem is we have very limited knowledge in this regard. More study is needed.
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