comet group


comet group

A group of comets, occurring in the Solar System, which, apart from the time of perihelion passage, have very nearly the same orbital elements. 1668, 1843 I, 1880 I, 1882 II, 1887 I, and 1948 VII is a typical group. These groups have probably been formed by the tidal splitting of a larger comet.

comet group

[′käm·ət ‚grüp] (astronomy) A division of comets on the basis of their period; the short-period group (periods of less than 200 years) contains orbits that show a strong preference for the plan of the solar system; the planes of long-period comets are randomly distributed.