Oort Cloud Reading Assignment

What did astronomer Jan Oort propose in 1950?

• That some comets come from a distant spherical shell of icy bodies surrounding the solar system

• That the Oort Cloud is a flat disk of icy bodies

• That the Oort Cloud is located within 1,000 astronomical units

• That the Oort Cloud is a source of asteroids

What is the Oort Cloud?

• A vast, extremely distant spherical shell of icy bodies surrounding the solar system

• A cluster of stars near the Sun

• A belt of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter

• A group of planets beyond Neptune

How far does the Oort Cloud extend from the Sun?

• Between 5,000 and 100,000 astronomical units

• Between 1,000 and 5,000 astronomical units

• Between 100,000 and 200,000 astronomical units

• Between 500 and 5,000 astronomical units

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-3

How does the passage describe the movement of objects in the Oort Cloud?

• They coast along their orbits like lazy moths around a porch light

• They move rapidly like shooting stars

• They are stationary and do not move

• They orbit in a tight, fast circle

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-4

In the Oort Cloud, how does the Sun appear?

• As just a particularly bright star

• As the largest object in the sky

• As a dim, barely visible star

• As a small, faint planet

What is the Oort Cloud?

• The most distant region in our solar system

• A planet in our solar system

• A star near the Sun

• A comet belt near Earth

How far is the inner edge of the Oort Cloud from the Sun in astronomical units (AU)?

• Between 2,000 and 5,000 AU

• Between 30 and 50 AU

• Between 10,000 and 100,000 AU

• Between 1 and 10 AU

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-4

How long will it take NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft to enter the Oort Cloud?

• About 300 years

• About 30 years

• About 3,000 years

• About 30,000 years

How long does it take for sunlight to reach the heliopause after leaving the Sun?

• About 17 hours

• About 8 minutes

• About 4.5 hours

• About 3 days

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS4-1

What is the speed of light in miles per hour?

• About 671 million miles per hour

• About 1 million miles per hour

• About 93 million miles per hour

• About 400 million miles per hour

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS4-1

NGSS.HS-PS4-3