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December 26 2009 06:13 UTC | Views: 478 | Comments: 1
Posted by: TonyF in Comets
Comet 81P Wild 2
Comet 81P/Wild, also known as Wild 2, is a comet named after Swiss astronomer Paul Wild, who discovered it in 1978.
It is believed that for most of its 4.5 billion-year lifetime, Wild 2 had a more distant and circular orbit. In September 1974, it passed within less than one million kilometers of the planet Jupiter, whose strong gravitational pull perturbed the comet's orbit and brought it into the inner solar system. Its orbital period changed from 43 years to about 6 years, and its perihelion is now about 1.59 AU.
NASA is collaborating with The Planetary Society who run a project called "Stardust@Home," using volunteers to help locate particles on the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector (SIDC).
Image was taken with Global Rent a Scope G3 Wide Field Observatory in New Mexico.
1 X 1200 seconds one shot color.
Tony Farkas
You can sign up for a Global Rent a Scope Free Trial and get $150 worth of points for free.
Comet 81P Gras G4
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Nice