Oort cloud Ecology II: The chronology of the formation of the Oort cloud
Simon Portegies Zwart (Leiden Observatory), Santiago Torres (UCLA),, Maxwell X. Cai (Leiden Observatory), Anthony Brown (Leiden Observatory)

TL;DR
This study uses simulations to trace the formation and early evolution of the Oort cloud, revealing its origins, the timing of Solar System ejection from its birth cluster, and the impact of planetary dynamics.
Contribution
It provides a detailed chronology of Oort cloud formation, highlighting the influence of the Sun's birth environment and planetary orbital configurations on its development.
Findings
Most of the Oort cloud material originates from 15-35 au in the Solar System.
The Solar System was likely ejected from its birth cluster between 20-50 million years after formation.
Planet migration and orbital reorganization during cluster membership are inconsistent with Oort cloud formation.
Abstract
We present a chronology of the formation and early evolution of the Oort cloud by simulations. These simulations start with the Solar System being born with planets and asteroids in a stellar cluster orbiting the Galactic center. Upon ejection from its birth environment, we continue to follow the evolution of the Solar System while it navigates the Galaxy as an isolated planetary system. We conclude that the range in semi-major axis between 100au and several 10\,au still bears the signatures of the Sun being born in a 1000MSun/pc star cluster, and that most of the outer Oort cloud formed after the Solar System was ejected. The ejection of the Solar System, we argue, happened between 20Myr and 50Myr after its birth. Trailing and leading trails of asteroids and comets along the Sun's orbit in the Galactic potential are the by-product of the formation of the Oort cloud. These arms…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAstro and Planetary Science · Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies · Isotope Analysis in Ecology
