Do Other Solar Systems Also Have OORT CLOUDS?

Question

Does anybody know if anyone has speculated or even theorized on the possibility that other solar systems have their own Oort clouds.
If so, could the cometary clouds of different solar systems intermingle and/or disturb eachother.
Like say, if two solar system's Oort clouds clashed could they cause the destruction of one of the Solar Systems.

Answer 1

This was actually the topic of my masters thesis and there have been attempts to observe the infrared and sub-mm emitting haze that would be associated with extra-solar Oort clouds. I drew heavily from Alan Stern's PhD thesis which is linked below. I also link to a numerical model that produces something that looks a lot like our own Oort cloud. While I have not paid attention to the field in a few years, as far as I know Extra-solar Oort Clouds have never been observed, though they should be there. (My work was an attempt to find statisticial evidence of their existence by finding a correlation between the distribution of far-infrared and sub-mm emission and the distrubtion of nearby stars. This technique failed using the all sky survey data available at the time.)

A fair amount is understood about Oort cloud formation; they constitute small icy proto-planetary bodies nearly ejected from a young stellar system by more massive objects through gravitational interactions (the so-called 'slingshot' or 'gravitational boost' effect that we use to send interplanetary probes on their way to the outer solar system).

These end up with highly eccentric orbits, and gentle gravitational nudges from passing stars and even more important, giant molecular clouds, can add angular momentum and circularize their orbits a bit leaving them essentially stranded in large orbits that don't take them into the inner solar system. (The same interactions will eject some of them entirely from the solar system and send others plummeting back into the inner solar system).

Chances are any star that formed planets will have some sort of Oort cloud, though in areas of high stellar density (like the galactic core) most of the cometary bodies will be stripped away from the parent star rather quickly (in astronomical timescales that is.)

Remember, the total mass of solar Oort cloud is estimated to be to be of order the mass of the Earth (or less, depending; this is controversial), so it is difficult to imagine that the rest of the solar system would care one way or another about its existence.

Answer 2

In theory, every system that is stable will have an oort cloud, and every system that has rocky bodies will have a kuiper belt.

These bodies will likely not cause the failure of a solar system. Despite the sheer number of objects in what an average oort cloud and kuiper belt looks like, they are very spread out and would more likely be absorbed by other bodies moving into a solar system or will simply be flung away by their own rotation combined with gravity wells of objects moving through them.

Answer 3

Yes, most likely many other stars have solar systems with Oort Clouds and belts of rocky debris.

However, distances between stars (Singular ones; not pairs, triples, or clusters) is usually very large so that the distances preclude any intermingling or crashing together of these clouds or debris belts. We are talking here of millions and millions of miles.

Answer 4

Likely, most do.... but the distance between stars (and their solar systems) is so great, I doubt there'd be much effect of one Oort cloud with another - and even if there was, the debris in those clouds would be so far apart, it's doubtful any object in one would hit an object in another. (Altho the chance exists, I guess.)

Answer 5

Yes, other star systems have such clouds. But a clash of clouds would not lead to destruction of the whole solar system. The clouds are unbelievable thin, with the comets in it millions of miles apart.

Answer 6

ask an astronomer
http://asktheastronomer.blogspot.com

Answer 7

I think so.