what type of orbit do comets have?

Question

hw assinment

Answer 1

I thought that comets are almost always going faster than is required to maintain an orbit around anything. Impacts against space rocks, dust or debris can slow them down, but it would take alot. In zero gee, a small rock moving fast enough towards it could potentially break the whole thing apart, or take a chunk off. many pellets could slow the sucker down. But I think most comets are moving faster than escape velocity, and could probably never sit in an orbit. Local or distant gravitational forces in the space fabric probably arent enough to generate an effective pull on an object larger than an SUV.

Answer 2

Comets, like everything else, generally have elliptical orbits. Long-period comets have highly eccentric (elongated) orbits that bring them through the inner solar system once every few thousand years. Some orbits are so eccentric ( e ~= 1) that there is some doubt as to whether the object will return, or will be flung out of the solar system. If the object is on a one-way trip out of the solar system, its orbit is parabolic. Comets originating from outside our solar system could have hyperbolic orbits, though I don't think any have been observed.

Answer 3

Not just comments but most objects orbit in a ellipse. The earth and the other 7 planet all orbit in an ellipse. It's the orbit isn't absolutely perfect then it would have to be an ellipse.

But Comments orbit in extremely eccentric ellipses. Spending most of their time out past Jupiter in in their obit. In fact It's not until they get to about Jupiter's orbit that we can see them at all. Past Jupiter there is not enough energy from the sun to start the comment to melt. Once a comment passes by jupiter's orbit the sun heats it it grows a tale and will keep the tail as it slighshots around the sun and heads back out the the far distant ends of the solor system.
~D

Answer 4

Go for a comet ur self

Answer 5

comets dont orbit suns or planets, they free float in space, some times the gravity pull of another star or planet pulls it in a slingshoot effcet or off corse, thats the closest it comes to having a orbit

Answer 6

most comets have an oblonged elliptical orbit around a star (or our sun)

Answer 7

comets do not follow certain orbit, they move in space randomly

Answer 8

elliptical, parabolic and hyperbolic.