AstroGrav Help /Sample Simulations /Solar System /Comets /82P (Gehrels 3)Version 5.1

82P (Gehrels 3)

This simulation shows Comet 82P (Gehrels 3), which had a close encounter with Jupiter in 1970 that dramatically changed its orbit, and which will have a similar close encounter with Jupiter in 2063.

If you run the simulation forward, you can watch the comet become a temporary moon of Jupiter between 2056 and 2064, with its closest approach to Jupiter in 2063. After leaving Jupiter in 2064, the comet's orbit about the Sun is significantly different from before the close encounter.

If you run the simulation backward, you can watch the comet become a temporary moon of Jupiter between 1966 and 1974, with its closest approach to Jupiter in 1970. Before arriving at Jupiter in 1966, the comet orbited the Sun between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, rather than between Mars and Jupiter.

Since different computers run at different speeds, you may need to edit the evolution time step to get the simulation to run at an acceptable rate.

You can find out more about Comet 82P (Gehrels 3) from the following website:

http://cometography.com/pcomets/082p.html