Orbit
7066 Nessus has an orbital period of 122.4 years, an eccentricity of 0.52 and an inclination to the ecliptic of 15.6 degrees. At perihelion, it moves much closer to the Sun than Uranus, while at aphelion it moves out well beyond the orbit of Neptune.
The orbits of centaurs are unstable due to perturbations by the giant planets. Nessus is a SE object since currently Saturn controls the perihelion and the Edgeworth–Kuiper belt controls the aphelion. Nessus is estimated to have a relatively long orbital half-life of about 4.9 Myr. Fifty clones of the orbit of Nessus suggest that Nessus will not pass within 1AU (150Gm) of a planet for at least twenty thousand years.
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Famous quotes containing the word orbit:
“The Fitchburg Railroad touches the pond about a hundred rods south of where I dwell. I usually go to the village along its causeway, and am, as it were, related to society by this link. The men on the freight trains, who go over the whole length of the road, bow to me as to an old acquaintance, they pass me so often, and apparently they take me for an employee; and so I am. I too would fain be a track-repairer somewhere in the orbit of the earth.”
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