The orbit of comet 78P/Gehrels 2. Comet 78P/Gehrels' aphelion (furthest distance fom the Sun) of 5.4AU is in the zone of control of the giant planetJupiter and the orbit of the comet is frequently perturbed by Jupiter. On September 15, 2029, the comet will pass within 0.018AU (2.7 million kilometers) of Jupiter and be strongly perturbed. By the year 2200, the comet will have a centaur-like orbit with a perihelion (closest distance to the Sun) near Jupiter. This outward migration from a perihelion of 2AU to a perihelion of ~5AU could cause the comet to go dormant.
Orbit Viewer applet originally written and kindly provided by Osamu Ajiki (AstroArts), and further modified by Ron Baalke (JPL). Tweaks by Kevin Heider.
The NASA website hosts a large number of images from the Soviet/Russian space agency, and other non-American space agencies. These are not necessarily in the public domain.
The SOHO (ESA & NASA) joint project implies that all materials created by its probe are copyrighted and require permission for commercial non-educational use. [2]
{{Information
|Description = The orbit of comet [[:en:78P/Gehrels|78P/Gehrels 2]]. Comet 78P/Gehrels' [[:en:Apsis|aphelion]] (furthest distance fom the Sun) of 5.4[[:en:Astronomical unit|AU]] is in the zone of control of the [[:en:gas giant|giant planet]
Captions
Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents