What external gravitational forces occasionally perturb Oort Cloud objects into observable paths?
Answer
Passing stars or galactic tides
The objects in the Oort Cloud maintain their extremely distant, high-inclination orbits primarily due to the gravitational domination of the Sun, but their stability is occasionally disturbed by external forces. These weak, long-term influences originate from the Milky Way galaxy itself and the rare near-pass of a neighboring star. These external gravitational nudges—specifically passing stars or galactic tides—act to 'stir up' the cloud, changing the orbits of some bodies enough so that they begin a slow fall toward the inner solar system, eventually becoming observable comets.
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