Colonizing the Oort Cloud

Far beyond even Pluto and the Kuiper Belt is a vast and mostly empty region of space that we theorize may contain trillions of comets and other icy bodies. Frozen and barren though they would be, we will consider how they might one day become thriving and comfortable habitats for us.

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Graphics Team:
Edward Nardella
Jarred Eagley
Justin Dixon
Katie Byrne
Misho Yordanov
Pierre Demet
Stefan Blandin

Script Editing:
Andy Popescu
Connor Hogan
Edward Nardella
Eustratius Graham
Gregory Leal
Jefferson Eagley
Keith Blockus
Luca de Rosa
Mark Warburton
Michael Gusevsky
Mitch Armstrong
MolbOrg
Naomi Kern
Philip Baldock
Sigmund Kopperud
Tiffany Penner

Music:
Markus Junnikkala, "Hail the Victorious Dead"
Koalips, "Kvazar"
Lombus, "Hydrogen Sonata"
Aerium, "Waters of Atlantis"
Chris Zabriskie, "CGI Snake"

[shishkabobby]

Another use of the Oort cloud is as an observatory. The sun is a gravity lens with a focal length of about 550 AU. This is the justification for the proposed FOCAL (spacecraft). This makes the Oort cloud (at distances of 1000+ AU) perfect for using the sun as a lens. The resolution would be based upon a diameter several times that of the sun's photosphere, so it is measured in thousands of kilometers. Making lenses or mirrors that big are hard to imaging by any other means. So a swarm of detectors, probably robotic and running at very low temperatures, would allow for very precise mapping of our own galaxy as well as all other galaxies. At 500 nm, and a diameter of 2000 km, the angular resolution of about 3e-13 radians. The galaxy is about 9e20 meters across, so at the far end of the galaxy, you can resolve about 3e6 meters. So you can 'only' resolve Mercury sized planets from across the galaxy. I have not double checked my math, and I am surprised how poorly this did, I was expecting to get better resolution in the galaxy, but that just shows how vast the galaxy really is.

[mgworkchat]

Is it just me or has the “speech impediment” gotten 1000x better since the first episodes? Sounding great man, keep it up and keep the videos coming!

[inkwell]

Kuiper Belt: Still warmer than the Great Lakes in the wintertime

[krissisk]

I always kinda figured the Oort Cloud is going to be colonized eventually. Aside from the fact that there are hermits unwillingly among us there's just a LOT of space available out there. I gotta admit though I never considered the idea of interstellar truck stops out there. Good video as always Issac.

[mongevoador]

Every time this music sounds, I know my feet will leave the ground and my mind will soar away from all mundane problems, towards our real capacity as intelligent beings. Thank you again, Isaac, for the ride.

[Nia-zqjl]

I don’t subscribe to much on YouTube, but this is something that I am really happy to subscribe to.

[fedportuguez]

Isaac man you have to write a whole book series!

[larrybeckham]

This video is a paradigm shifter - not unusual for a Isaac Arthur video and that why I love them. The Breakthrough Starshot has the wrong goal, it should target far reaches of the Kuiper Belt and map the Oort Cloud. Let's truly see where our solar system ends and what it out there.

[gabesmith]

I didn't even know the Oort cloud existed until last week. Also, a colony wouldn't need to interact with other colonies to make money, they would have their own internal economies. And if they did, they could also make a lot of money through finance, technological development, and services. They could even make videos about the future.

[Soppybobs]

Isaac we Yumans thank you! Sagan would be happy to see this channel.

[thewalkingtaco]

Colonizing the Oort Cloud? I never thought of such a possibility... I now have something interesting to plan out for a sci-fi story! Thanks!

[hakusansaku]

Arthur at a job interview:
Interviewer: So what are you doing in your spare time?
A: Nothing much, really, just some vids on youtube. Check it out if you want.
I: k, maybe some clickbait content, lets see
1. hour: hmm something with space, lets see "colonizing xy", sounds interesting
2. hour: Like & subscribe, ... lets watch the previous one
...
8. hour: I should go to sleep, have work tomorror. Just one more episode
..
16. hour: I should call and tell them I'm sick
...
200. hour: Ok I've watched all his episodes, I did not go to work, who cares ! the dyson dilemma, and civilizations at end of time are much more important

[prakadox]

Lovely episode, Isaac. There is something very poetic about the image of a million lasers and masers coming out from the inner system, followed by hundreds of millions in the further systems. Gas stations, fortresses, whatever, but made by people like us.

[hoggif]

Another great episode. I love the combination of realistic scifi with analytical engineer type analyzing. A great combination of approaches.

[LaserGuidedLoogie]

This channel is my "happy place, " where I come when I want to feel better about things. Thanks Issac!

[literalvampirepotbellygobl]

I feel like a night at the bar with Isaac Arthur would actually make me gain brain cells. Man, if you're ever in Cleveland, hit me up.

[JoelDowdell]

Interstellar highways being my third favorite concept from this channel, behind interstellar Jupiter and Gardener Ships. Always glad for elaboration on those topics.

[iorobinson]

I am only 13 but I already have a vast amount of knowledge in astronomy and astrophysics, and your videos keep me on my feet and I am always learning something new from you! Thank you for posting and don't stop making your videos!

[Edit]

I love how your production quality is steadily improving over time (It was good anyway, super well structured) Thanks mate.

[neuroticaproductions]

Excellent episode, as usual. Holy shit what I wouldn't give for a hyper-realistic space colonization game (Stellaris on steroids) featuring all of the concepts you cover in this channel. We probably wouldn't have the computer processing power for such a thing for years, though.