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Semi-major axis. 17.737 au: Eccentricity: 0.96658: Orbital period (sidereal) ... Halley's Comet is the only known short-period comet that is consistently visible to ...
For elliptical orbits it can also be calculated from the periapsis and apoapsis since = and = (+), where a is the length of the semi-major axis. = + = / / + = + where: r a is the radius at apoapsis (also "apofocus", "aphelion", "apogee"), i.e., the farthest distance of the orbit to the center of mass of the system, which is a focus of the ellipse.
The comet has an orbital period of about 145 years, and thus fits the definition of Halley type comets, which have an orbital period between 20 and 200 years. Its orbital period is similar to comet Swift-Tuttle, the parent body of the Perseids. The comet has a relatively small perihelion distance, about 0.19 AU (28 million km; 18 million mi). [8]
is the length of the semi-major axis. Conclusions: The orbital period is equal to that for a circular orbit with the orbital radius equal to the semi-major axis (), For a given semi-major axis the orbital period does not depend on the eccentricity (See also: Kepler's third law).
For comets with an orbital period of over 1000 years (semi-major axis greater than ~100 AU), see the List of near-parabolic comets. Comet designation Name / discoverer(s)
is the semi-major axis, is the standard gravitational parameter. Conclusions: For a given semi-major axis the specific orbital energy is independent of the eccentricity. Using the virial theorem we find: the time-average of the specific potential energy is equal to
Minor planets in comet-like orbits similar to HTCs that never come close enough to the Sun to outgas are called centaurs. HTCs are named after the first discovered member, and the first discovered periodic comet, Halley's Comet, which orbits the Sun in about 75 years, and passing as far as the orbit of Neptune.
Newton also applied his theorem to the planet Mercury, [26] which has an eccentricity ε of roughly 0.21, and suggested that it may pertain to Halley's comet, whose orbit has an eccentricity of roughly 0.97. [25] A qualitative justification for this extrapolation of his method has been suggested by Valluri, Wilson and Harper. [25]