Where do the small comets come from?
The small comets do not come from the Oort cloud located far beyond the orbits of the planets, but from an inner belt of cometary material beginning just beyond the orbit of Neptune. To explain the constant bombardment of the Earth by small comets, a large, dark, as-yet-undiscovered planet must be regularly passing through the outer part of this comet belt where the small comets are thought to be located. The eccentric orbit of this dark planet is speculated to cross the comet belt once every 26 million years or so, sending swarms of small comets streaming into the inner solar system and toward the Earth itself.
Related Questions
- In the spring of 1999 some scientists concluded that the Earths water probably did not come from comets. So how could the small comets be responsible for the water in the Earths oceans?
- Is there a seasonal variation in the observed influx of small comets?
- Is there a daily variation in the observed influx of small comets?
