Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Perturbation
Perturbation is a term used in astronomy to describe alterations to an object's orbit caused by gravitational interactions with other bodies. For example, the orbits of comets are often perturbed by the gravitational fields of the giant planets - Jupiter's gravitational influence caused the period of Comet Hale-Bopp's orbit to increase from 2800 to 4200 years.
10-26-2009 08:16:03
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details