why does most comets follow hyperbolic trajectory?

Question

student of class 9

Answer 1

First off, congradulations, you used the word trajectory instead of orbit even if others misread it. Not bad for a class 9 student.

However, you should say "some" and not "most".

Now, here is about how it works.

Comets originate in the Oort Cloud, a postulated spherical cloud of proto-comets situated about 50,000 to 100,000 AU from the Sun. This is approximately 2000 times the distance from the Sun to Pluto or roughly one light year, almost a quarter of the distance from the Sun to Proxima Centauri, the star nearest the Sun.

For some reason, gravitational effect of near by stars, collision with other proto-comets, heck they even brought back the old Nemesis companion star theory in some theories, some of these proto-comets start to fall toward the Sun.

What sort of trajectory or orbit it takes then depends on several factors, primarily it’s velocity and the angle which it approaches the sun (other factors play into this, how close it approaches the planets can change both velocity and angle for one).

As it approaches the Sun, it begins to pick up speed (check up on Keppler’s laws to see why, you should do a bit of research on your own). As it moves around the Sun, it picks up even more speed from the Sun’s gravity (the slingshot effect). If the angle and the original velocity are right, then it will pick up enough speed to escape the Sun’s gravity and bye-bye comet. It will have achieved a parabolic or hyperbolic trajectory and we will never see it again.

It is a bit (well, a big bit) more complicated than that, but you should get the basic idea.

Answer 2

Some comets do follow parabolic (not hyperbolic) orbits, which means they only approach the sun once and then fly off beyond the solar system.

I don't think anyone has any idea how many comets are in permanent elliptical orbits versus one-shot parabolas. We do know they come from the Oort Cloud, way beyond Pluto's Kuiper Belt, at unpredictable intervals. It is chance perturbations from other bodies that send them towards the sun, and like anything else most of them are small and go unnoticed.

Answer 3

Hyperbolic potential that it is not captured in an orbit and the comet is traveling swifter than the get away speed. Comets from exterior our image voltaic gadget can persist with a hyperbolic direction. Slower comets flow into elliptical orbits as a replace.

Answer 4

They Don't...It just looks like they do when you compare their orbits to that of the planets.

Comets have highly elliptical orbits that brings them very close to the sun at one point and very far from it at another. Planets also have elliptical orbits but they are in such a way that the Sun is almost at the centre of it. In case of comet's orbit, the Sun is nearer to one edge of its elliptical orbit. It is only because of this kind of orbit that the comet can sprout a tail when it gets close to the Sun.

Answer 5

They don't. Hyperbolic and parabolic curves are open ended and therefore cannot produce an orbital configuration.

Comets have an elliptical orbit.