Comet Orbits: Elliptical Journeys

Comets have elliptical orbits, meaning they follow an elongated path around the Sun.

Perihelion is the point in a comet's orbit when it is closest to the Sun.

Aphelion is the point in a comet's orbit when it is farthest from the Sun.

Inclination is the angle between a comet's orbital plane and the plane of Earth's orbit.

Eccentricity is the term used to describe how elongated a comet's orbit is.

Halley's Comet is a famous comet with a highly elliptical orbit and is visible from Earth every 76 years.

Shoemaker-Levy 9 Comet collided with Jupiter in 1994, providing valuable insights into cometary structure and composition.

Hale-Bopp Comet was discovered in 1995 and became known for its spectacular tail and close approach to Earth.

Hyakutake Comet was discovered in 1996 and had a very bright outburst, making it visible to the naked eye.

Oumuamua was discovered in 2013 and gained attention for its unusual interstellar origin.

Node is the term used to describe the point in a comet's orbit where it crosses the plane of Earth's orbit.

Semi-major axis is the term used to describe the distance between a comet's perihelion and aphelion.

Orbital period is the term used to describe the time it takes for a comet to complete one orbit around the Sun.

Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein was discovered in 2020 and gained attention for its extremely long orbital period of over 10,000 years.

Rosetta was the space mission that was launched in 2014 to study Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.