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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 July 2015
The temporal evolution of the terrestrial impact cratering rate over the past 250 Myr is dominated by a trend increasing towards the present. We find that the Sun's motion through the Galaxy plays at best a minor role in modulating this cratering rate. Moreover, the solar apex motion can explain the non-uniform longitude distribution of the perihelia of long period comets without invoking a solar companion in the outer Oort cloud.