To: BenLurkin
So, according to wikipedia this thing has a perihelion of 1.143164 AU. The Earth has an aphelion of 1.0167 AU.
Can someone please explain how this thing ever gets closer than about 11 million miles from earth in its current orbit?
15 posted on
11/26/2018 12:57:36 AM PST by
InABunkerUnderSF
(Justice Brett Kavnaugh... I like the sound of that.)
To: InABunkerUnderSF
Meet Yahoo's science correspondent.
39 posted on
11/26/2018 9:38:25 AM PST by
jmcenanly
("The more corrupt the state, the more laws." Tacitus, Publius Cornelius)
To: InABunkerUnderSF
So, according to wikipedia this thing has a perihelion of 1.143164 AU. The Earth has an aphelion of 1.0167 AU. Can someone please explain how this thing ever gets closer than about 11 million miles from earth in its current orbit?
Considered as a pair of two-body dynamic systems, you can’t. But if “this thing” gets close enough to another heavenly body (Mars?) you then have a three-body problem - which is notoriously “difficult” to solve in closed form. In such case you could see the orbit of “this thing” changed - and its perihelion reduced.
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