SOLAR SYSTEM

Detailed explanation-1: -Comets go around the Sun in a highly elliptical orbit.

Detailed explanation-2: -Most comets travel in highly elliptical orbits around the Sun with orbital periods (time between returns) ranging from just over three years to millions of years.

Detailed explanation-3: -Comets are thought to orbit the sun in either the Oort cloud or Kuiper belt. When another star passes by the solar system, its gravity pushes the Oort cloud and/or Kuiper belt and causes comets to descend toward the sun in a highly elliptical orbit with the sun at one focus of the ellipse.

Detailed explanation-4: -Examples of elliptic orbits include: Hohmann transfer orbit, Molniya orbit, and tundra orbit.

Detailed explanation-5: -The orbit of the Halley’s Comet is elliptical with a high eccentricity, which is equal to 0.97, compared to 0.0167 for the Earth, or in other words, the major axis of the ellipse is about four times greater than the minor axis.