The Halley's Comet Has an Elliptical Orbit with an Eccentricity $e \approx 0.907$

question 97

Multiple Choice

The Halley's Comet has an elliptical orbit with an eccentricity of $e \approx 0.907$ .The length of the major axis of the orbit is approximately 35.1 astronomical units.Find a polar equation for the orbit.How close does the comet come to the sun

• A) \(\frac { 1.139 } { 1 - \cos \theta }\) Closest point to the sun is \(\approx\) 0.579 astronomical unit.
• B) \(\frac { 1.139 } { 1 + 0.967 \sin \theta }\) Closest point to the sun is \(\approx\) 0.579 astronomical unit.
• C) \(\frac { 1.139 } { 1 + 1.967 \cos \theta }\) Closest point to the sun is \(\approx\) 0.579 astronomical unit.
• D) \(\frac { 1.139 } { 1 - 1.967 \sin \theta }\) Closest point to the sun is \(\approx\) 0.579 astronomical unit.
• E) \(\overline { 1 + 1.139 \sin \theta }\) Closest point to the sun is \(\approx\) 0.579 astronomical unit.