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But if it's more than halfway to Alpha Centauri, then 1) it shouldn't be gravitationally bound to the sun at all, at least not in the direction of Alpha Centaur
by AnimalMuppet 3y ago
But if it's more than halfway to Alpha Centauri, then 1) it shouldn't be gravitationally bound to the sun at all, at least not in the direction of Alpha Centauri, and 2) Alpha Centauri may have its own Oort cloud, which means that this stuff would be continuous from near Sol to near Alpha Centauri.
How strong is the data that the Oort cloud ends at 3 light years? Is it possible that it is just part of the interstellar medium instead?
- mkl 3y agoMore than half that distance, but maybe not in that direction? I don't know, that's just what Wikipedia said. Alpha Centauri A and B are each roughly the mass of our sun, so together they should have more pull. Yes, this stuff is continuous (but gets very sparse), and there must be some region where it's temporarily balanced between the stars. It's all quite variable as stars move relative to each other, and the stuff can be taken for a ride on a new star.