Oort cloud

noun

ˈȯrt- 

: a spherical shell of cometary bodies believed to surround the sun far beyond the orbits of the outermost planets and from which some are dislodged when perturbed to fall toward the sun compare kuiper belt

Examples of Oort cloud in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Just chillin' at the edge of the solar system For context, the Oort cloud is a spherical shell of comets and icy bodies that exist out beyond the orbit of Neptune, which is located around 2.8 billion miles (4.5 billion kilometers) from the sun. —Robert Lea, Space.com, 27 Feb. 2025

Creating Comets The Oort cloud spans a great distance, from around 2,000 to between 100,000 and 200,000 astronomical units (au). —Jack Knudson, Discover Magazine, 24 Feb. 2025

At its closest, the comet was over three times closer to our star than the orbit of Mercury, and ten times closer than the Earth, but is now on its way back out of the solar system towards the distant Oort cloud. —John Mac Ghlionn, Newsweek, 14 Jan. 2025

Scientists calculated the comet originated from a region called the Oort cloud in the most distant part of our solar system. —Margherita Bassi, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Oct. 2024

The inner edge of the Oort cloud is somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 thousand Astronomical Units (AU, the length of the typical Earth-Sun distance) away. —Paul Sutter, Ars Technica, 10 July 2023

The solar system includes the distant Oort cloud, a spherical collection of cometlike bodies bound by the sun's gravity that may stretch halfway to the closest star. —Tim Folger, Scientific American, 18 June 2022

The colossal comet may be dashing our way from the Oort cloud at a speedy 22,000 miles per hour, per Space.com. —Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Apr. 2022

The Oort cloud represents the very edges of our solar system. —Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 23 July 2021

Word History

Etymology

Jan Oort †1992 Dutch astronomer

First Known Use

1974, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Oort cloud

• allowed
• aloud
• avowed
• endowed
• mcleod
• bowed
• browed
• coude
• cowed
• crowd
• dowd
• loud

Kids Definition

Oort cloud

noun

ˈȯrt- 

: a spherical shell of small icy bodies (as comets) that orbit the sun far beyond Pluto

Etymology

named after Jan Oort, 1900–1992, Dutch astronomer