Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 Facts

Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 is a comet, a celestial body that is composed of ice and rock that when it gets closer to the sun begins to burn away and produce a long tail. It is composed mainly of ice and dust. As the orbital period is less than 200 years, it is deemed to be a short-term period comet.

Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 absolute magnitude is 11.7, which is the object's brightness. A higher absolute magnitude means that the object is faint, whereas a very low number means it is very bright. The closest the Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 came to its orbitting target was 2006-06-02 at which point it was 0.937 A.U. distance away.

Orbital Details

Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 orbital period, the time it takes to complete an orbit of the Sun, is 5.36 years. The orbital inclination of Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, the angle at which Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 orbits to the orbital plane, is 11.4 degrees. The orbital eccentricity is 0.694 of Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, the degree at which Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 orbits close to a circular (0) orbit as opposed to an elliptical (1). The semi-major axis of Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 orbit is 3.06 (A.U.), the furthest point from the centre to the edge of an elliptical.

Facts and Figures

Comments and Questions

Adding comments or questions is currently suspended at the moment. Should you need to contact me because there's a mistake or something missing, you can do so from the About Us page.