Comets with extremely elliptical orbits, like Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp,
A) come from the asteroid belt.
B) come from the Kuiper belt.
C) come from the Oort cloud.
D) are Trojan comets.
E) are captured by Jupiter.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Comets with extremely elliptical orbits, like Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp, are believed to originate from the Oort cloud. The Oort cloud is a hypothesized spherical cloud of icy objects that surrounds the solar system beyond the Kuiper belt. These comets are thought to be perturbed by the gravity of nearby stars, which sends them hurtling toward the sun on highly elliptical orbits.

Comets with Extremely Elliptical Orbits, Like Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp