The Orbit of Hale-Bopp Comet, Discovered in 1995, Is an Ellipse

question 4

Multiple Choice

The orbit of Hale-Bopp comet, discovered in 1995, is an ellipse with eccentricity $0.995$ and one focus at the Sun. The length of its major axis is $369.9$ AU. [An astronomical unit (AU) is the mean distance between Earth and the Sun, about 93 million miles.] Find the maximum distance from the comet to the Sun. (The perihelion distance from a planet to the Sun is $a ( 1 - e )$ and the aphelion distance is $a ( 1 + e )$ .) Find the answer in AU and round to the nearest hundredth.

• A) \(373.98\) AU
• B) \(377.98\) AU
• C) \(371.98\) AU
• D) \(375.98\) AU
• E) \(368.98\) AU

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Definitions:

Oocyte

Immature egg.

Post Fertilization

The stage in the reproductive process that occurs after the fusion of gametes, involving embryo development and seed formation in plants.

Embryo

An early stage of development in multicellular organisms after fertilization and before becoming a fetus, characterized by rapid cell division and differentiation.