MCQ Detailed View

Beyond the Kuiper Belt, which lies just past Neptune’s orbit, astronomers believe there is an even more distant and larger region of icy objects called the Oort Cloud. This region surrounds the solar system like a vast, spherical shell and is thought to contain billions of icy bodies and comet-like objects.

The Oort Cloud was first proposed by Dutch astronomer Jan Oort in 1950 to explain the origin of long-period comets. These comets have extremely long orbital paths, taking thousands or even millions of years to travel around the Sun. Observations of these comets suggested that they must come from a faraway reservoir that extends much farther than the Kuiper Belt.

The Kuiper Belt lies roughly 30–55 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun, where 1 AU is the distance between the Earth and the Sun. The Oort Cloud, in contrast, is believed to start at around 2,000 AU and may stretch to 100,000 AU or even farther. This makes it the most distant region of our solar system, marking the boundary where the Sun’s gravitational influence weakens and interstellar space begins.

The Oort Cloud is mostly made of icy planetesimals, remnants of the solar system’s early formation. These objects contain frozen water, methane, ammonia, and other compounds. Occasionally, gravitational disturbances from nearby stars or galactic tides can push some of these icy objects toward the inner solar system, where they become visible as comets.

Unlike the fictional names given in the other options (Gort, Fort, Nort), the Oort Cloud is a scientifically proposed region recognized by astronomers worldwide. While no spacecraft has reached this distant zone, evidence from comet paths strongly supports its existence.

The correct answer is The Oort Cloud, as it is the recognized region of the solar system located beyond the Kuiper Belt.