- #1
Buzz Bloom
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- TL;DR Summary
- The diagram of Neowise's orbit in the cited Wikipedia article seems very odd.
The orbit diagram
in the Wikipedia article
shows some very odd spirals.
My first guess is the picture shows what Neowise does in one Earth year (mostly 2020) as the Earth completes it's orbit. The caption says, "7 day motion", apparently referring to the separation between orbital points displayed. Another possible interpretation is that the diagram represents one complete Neowise orbit, and each loop of the sprial represents what happens to Neowise in different Earth years from Earth's perspective. That is, the loop in the sky gets smaller as Neowise moves further away, and vice versa. The point where the two spiral cones touch corresponds to the aphelion.
If my guess is wrong, can someone please explain what is happening regarding these spirals in Neowise's orbit?.
The following is a quote from the article.
in the Wikipedia article
shows some very odd spirals.
My first guess is the picture shows what Neowise does in one Earth year (mostly 2020) as the Earth completes it's orbit. The caption says, "7 day motion", apparently referring to the separation between orbital points displayed. Another possible interpretation is that the diagram represents one complete Neowise orbit, and each loop of the sprial represents what happens to Neowise in different Earth years from Earth's perspective. That is, the loop in the sky gets smaller as Neowise moves further away, and vice versa. The point where the two spiral cones touch corresponds to the aphelion.
If my guess is wrong, can someone please explain what is happening regarding these spirals in Neowise's orbit?.
The following is a quote from the article.
This perihelion passage will increase the comet's orbital period from about 4500 years to about 6800 years.
Can someone explain how the perihelion passage causes this change in orbital period?