How close will comet come to earth

  • Thread starter Thread starter scatterbrain8
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Comet Earth
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
1 reply · 3K views
scatterbrain8
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
I'm given the six orbital parameters for a comet and am asked to find how close it comes to earth, but I'm not sure how to go about this...

Should I calculate the position of the comet and Earth and the comet's perihelion passage? If so, are there equations for this type of thing?

The parameters are a=110 AU, e=0.995, i=89 deg, longitude of the ascending node is 180 deg, argument of perihelion= 0 deg and time of perihelion passage = 2008 March 21

I know it's vernal equinox, but not sure how to quantify the positions...
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
figured it out, nevermind