With all the news stories telling the same story over and over, I would like to know how long it takes for the comet to take a trip around the sun. My guess is every 200-1000 years. Does anyone have an official estimate?
2007-01-11 15:38:06 · 3 answers · asked by Jeffrey B 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
I just saw an orbit diagram on a NASA site. That orbit goes 20+ times away from the sun than does or Plutoed Pluto! Must be an aweful long time till we see McNaught again.
2007-01-11 15:48:53 · update #1
Comet McNaught appears to be on a parabolic trajectory, which is to say, it's only passing this way once. Note that its designation is C/2006 P1. If it were a periodic comet (i.e., one that's coming back) it would be P/2006 P1, the first P being for "periodic".
2007-01-11 15:52:50 · answer #1 · answered by injanier 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I read that McNaught is a new comet, never recorded before.
2007-01-11 23:48:19 · answer #2 · answered by 1776_2007 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not defined yet: parabola too wide. "Periodic" means measurable return in <200 years. This one is not labeled "periodic" so it may not be witnessed in return within 200 years, or it may never be seen again.
2007-01-13 21:12:56 · answer #3 · answered by juan 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋