RussG123

If our own star had an event occur to disturb the Oort Cloud, do we know if there would there be enough matter to dim the visible light by 15 to 22%? What do we know about Oort Clouds around other stars in terms of ability to block visible light? Lastly, would a "recent" event lack IR emission vs. a comparatively "older" event?

In the WTF paper, section 4.4.3 indicates that the 1,500-day dip would roughly correspond to an object(s) with an orbital distance of 1.6 AU - for an F3 IV/V star, isn't this orbital distance near the habitable zone for that type of star?

Thinking about the kind of process it would take to essentially create such a cloud, are there any theories currently out there that best fit this concept? Would a swarm of comets flying inward toward the star would have a more triangular shape? Are we thinking the cloud has a certain shape or dynamic to it (circular)?

Dr. Wright, thanks to you for being so available to answer questions. Similarly: I'm a geologist in mid-career but have followed astronomy since I was a little kid. It remains with me today. Was so honored to have the likes Carl Sagan write back to me as a kid when I had questions. Do you think it's ever "too late" to return to school, re-structure my degree, my career, and become an astronomer?

Because TESS will be an all-sky survey, and won't be looking at one area for as long as Kepler did, will there be more public outreach efforts in 2017 for ordinary citizens to help analyze and interpret data to find that next enigma, such as KIC 8462852?