kosovohp Semi-Pro
Posts : 900 Join date : 2010-09-06
| Subject: Barring comets Sun Nov 14, 2010 1:27 pm | |
| Barring comets, Sedna has the longest orbital period of any known object in the Solar System, calculated at between 11,800 and 12,100 years.[2] This represents a best-fit solution, as Sedna has only been observed over a brief part of its orbital arc. Its orbit is extremely eccentric, with an aphelion estimated at 960 AU and a perihelion at about 76 AU. At its discovery it was approaching perihelion at 89.6 AU[16] from the Sun, and was the most distant object in the Solar System yet observed. Eris was later detected by the same survey at 97 AU. Although the orbits of some long-period comets extend farther than that of Sedna, they are too dim to be discovered except when approaching perihelion in the inner Solar System. Even as Sedna nears its perihelion in late 2075[c] to mid 2076,[9] the Sun would appear merely as a bright star in its sky: with an angular diameter too small to resolve as a disc, it would be only 100 times brighter than a full Moon on Earth.[17] free text msgscareer networking | |
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