<blockquote>
<p>How come the comets and asteroids in the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud are kept in a gravitational field and they don't get pushed and pulled by the planets around them?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Basically, they're so far away from the planets that those don't exert significant influence on them. The Sun is much heavier, so those objects remain where they are and don't escape into outer space.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>but wouldn't really big comets in the same orbit of Jupiter have at least got some planet-like properties</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yes, but Jupiter has gobbled them up; it has <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearing_the_neighbourhood" rel="nofollow noreferrer">cleared its neighbourhood</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>And how come the comets/asteroids around Jupiter have the exact same orbital period around the sun?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If you mean the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_trojan" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Jupiter trojans</a>, they indeed have the exact same orbital period, due to them being at the stable <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrange_point" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Lagrange points</a> L<sub>4</sub> and L<sub>5</sub>. Why this is possible at all is advanced orbital mechanics, which is interesting but may be rather complicated.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-02T18:11:23.127Z
2021-11-02T18:11:23.127Z
Glorfindel
<p>How come the comets and asteroids in the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud are kept in a gravitational field and they don't get pushed and pulled by the planets around them? I get why comets in the Oort cloud couldn't have developed to be planets cause of the cold and distance from the sun, but wouldn't really big comets in the same orbit of Jupiter have at least got some planet-like properties? Like an atmosphere, or whatever? What makes a (small) comet not developed enough to have this? They are failed planets, they started off hot as well.</p>
<p>And how come the comets/asteroids around Jupiter have the exact <strong>same</strong> orbital period around the sun? Isn't the orbital period determined on e.g. the mass of the object and the distance to the object it's orbiting around? I don't get how a comet, which is probably a million times lighter than Jupiter, can have the same orbital period and speed around the sun.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-02T18:10:39.473Z
Welcome to Astronomy SE.  You are asking many questions in this post, which may lead to closure of the question.  May I edit the question to narrow the scope?  Or would you like to do so?
Connor Garcia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-02T18:12:19.293Z
You may edit it, as long as all the questions are kept as is and aren't left behing. I can only ask 1 thing every 40 mins :) @ConnorGarcia
Anonymous RU
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-02T18:26:04.080Z
From our help menu: https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/help/closed-questions, *Avoid asking multiple distinct questions at once.*  I have closed this question, but will reopen it if you narrow the scope.  I specifically recommend deleting one of the two paragraphs (perhaps the second to largely preserve the answer from @Glorfindel ).
Connor Garcia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-02T18:27:26.620Z
You are welcome to ask the other question separately when allowed by the site.
Connor Garcia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-02T18:29:15.670Z
So you're telling me I have to wait 40 mins for each question? Lol no @ConnorGarcia gtg moving over to Quora
Anonymous RU
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2021-11-04T05:20:31.413Z
In the astronomy time scale 40 minutes is a mere blink of the eye.
John Canon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-04T09:12:52.710Z
Haha wish it felt like a blink of the eye as well here on earth on times like these. @JohnCanon
Anonymous RU
<jupiter><comets><meteor><kuiper-belt><oort-cloud>
The Kuiper Belt and Oort cloud
Anonymous RU
# The Kuiper Belt and Oort cloud

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-11-02)

How come the comets and asteroids in the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud are kept in a gravitational field and they don't get pushed and pulled by the planets around them? I get why comets in the Oort cloud couldn't have developed to be planets cause of the cold and distance from the sun, but wouldn't really big comets in the same orbit of Jupiter have at least got some planet-like properties? Like an atmosphere, or whatever? What makes a (small) comet not developed enough to have this? They are failed planets, they started off hot as well.

And how come the comets/asteroids around Jupiter have the exact **same** orbital period around the sun? Isn't the orbital period determined on e.g. the mass of the object and the distance to the object it's orbiting around? I don't get how a comet, which is probably a million times lighter than Jupiter, can have the same orbital period and speed around the sun.

**Tags:** jupiter, comets, meteor, kuiper-belt, oort-cloud

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Welcome to Astronomy SE.  You are asking many questions in this post, which may lead to closure of the question.  May I edit the question to narrow the scope?  Or would you like to do so?  
> **username_0**: You may edit it, as long as all the questions are kept as is and aren't left behing. I can only ask 1 thing every 40 mins :) @username_1  
> **username_1**: From our help menu: https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/help/closed-questions, *Avoid asking multiple distinct questions at once.*  I have closed this question, but will reopen it if you narrow the scope.  I specifically recommend deleting one of the two paragraphs (perhaps the second to largely preserve the answer from @username_3 ).  
> **username_1**: You are welcome to ask the other question separately when allowed by the site.  
> **username_0**: So you're telling me I have to wait 40 mins for each question? Lol no @username_1 gtg moving over to Quora  
> **username_2**: In the astronomy time scale 40 minutes is a mere blink of the eye.  
> **username_0**: Haha wish it felt like a blink of the eye as well here on earth on times like these. @username_2  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2021-11-02. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

> How come the comets and asteroids in the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud are kept in a gravitational field and they don't get pushed and pulled by the planets around them?

Basically, they're so far away from the planets that those don't exert significant influence on them. The Sun is much heavier, so those objects remain where they are and don't escape into outer space.

> but wouldn't really big comets in the same orbit of Jupiter have at least got some planet-like properties

Yes, but Jupiter has gobbled them up; it has [cleared its neighbourhood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearing_the_neighbourhood).

> And how come the comets/asteroids around Jupiter have the exact same orbital period around the sun?

If you mean the [Jupiter trojans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_trojan), they indeed have the exact same orbital period, due to them being at the stable [Lagrange points](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrange_point) L4 and L5. Why this is possible at all is advanced orbital mechanics, which is interesting but may be rather complicated.


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