Observational data and orbits of the comets discovered at the Vilnius Observatory in 1980–2006 and the case of the comet 322P

Abstract

This article is devoted to the discovery of comets at the Vilnius Observatory together with the orbital analysis of dynamically interesting comets, namely 322P. We studied the orbital evolution of comet 322P with and without non-gravitational effects. It turned out that many of the comet’s orbital clones go into and out of retrograde orbits, sometimes repeatedly. The reason for such dramatic changes in the inclination of the orbit is the origin of comet 322P close to mean motion resonance 3:1 with Jupiter, ejecting them from there and, consequently, bringing the clones closer to the terrestrial group of planets. In this way, the clones of comet 322P enter retrograde orbits and reside there several ky to several My.

Keywords

• comets: search
• astrometry
• orbits