The Sun Steals Comets from Other Stars

[n2doc]

Nov. 23, 2010: The next time you thrill at the sight of a comet blazing across the night sky, consider this: it's a stolen pleasure. You're enjoying the spectacle at the expense of a distant star.


Sophisticated computer simulations run by researchers at the Southwest Research Institute (SWRI) have exposed the crime.

"If the results are right, our Sun snatched comets from neighboring stars' back yards," says SWRI scientist Hal Levison. And he believes this kind of thievery accounts for most of the comets in the Oort Cloud at the edge of our solar system.

"We know that stars form in clusters. The Sun was born within a huge community of other stars that formed in the same gas cloud. In that birth cluster, the stars were close enough together to pull comets away from each other via gravity. It's like neighborhood children playing in each others' back yards. It's hard to imagine it not happening."

According to this "thief" model, comets accompanied the nearest star when the birth cluster blew apart. The Sun made off with quite a treasure – the Oort Cloud, which was swarming with comets from all over the "neighborhood."

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/23nov_aliencomets/

[Beetwasher]

1. That Bastard, I Knew It!

n/t

[liberal N proud]

2. We have a greedy sun

[tridim]

3. I wouldn't be surprized if the TBTF banks worship the Sun Gawd.

Unfortunately the Sun doesn't make money stealing comets.

[ElboRuum]

4. So the Sun is a Republican?

Oh, wait, no. If it were, we'd receive a bill for the privilege of watching the show.

[gtar100]

5. And the distribution of sunlight would be privatized.

The energy of the sun being distributed so freely and equally is really a poor business model. Energy is leaked out and wasted on non-essentials all the time. Private businesses could be much more efficient.