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 human spirit is itself the most wonderful fairy tale that can possibly be. What a magnificent world lies enclosed within our bosoms! No solar orbit hems it in, the inexhaustible wealth of the total visible creation is outweighed by its riches!”
—E.T.A.W. (Ernst Theodor Amadeus Wilhelm)
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