Comet C/2014 B1 (IMAGE)

University of Oklahoma

Comet C/2014 B1

Caption

Image of comet C/2014 B1 (Scwartz) taken with the 2.5-meter Nordic Optical Telescope. This long-period comet's orbit lies exterior to Saturn's, yet it exhibited cometary activity during its most recent passage through the solar system's giant planet region. Analysis of this comet's orbit as well as others near or beyond Saturn shows that they rapidly fade below detectability after just a handful of successive passages through the outer giant planet region. The phenomenon of "comet fading" had previously only been known to operate amongst comets passing through the inner solar system near Earth.

Credit

David Jewitt

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