High School

You discover a new comet with a semimajor axis of 20.1 AU and an eccentricity of 0.84. What is the comet's period in years?

A) 26.9 years
B) 38.2 years
C) 49.5 years
D) 57.7 years

Answer :

Final answer:

The period of revolution for a comet with a given semi-major axis and eccentricity can be calculated using Kepler's third law, resulting in an approximate value of 38.2 years. The correct answer is B.

Explanation:

The period of revolution for a comet can be determined using Kepler's third law, which states that the square of the period of revolution is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of the orbit. Given a semi-major axis of 20.1 AU and an eccentricity of 0.84, we can calculate the period of the comet to be approximately 38.2 years.

Other Questions