81P/Wild

Comet 81P/Wild, also known as Wild 2, is a comet named after Swiss astronomer Paul Wild (pronounced Vilt), who discovered it in 1978.

It is believed that for most of its 4.5 billion-year lifetime, Wild 2 had a more distant and circular orbit. In 1974, it passed within only about one million kilometers of the planet Jupiter, whose strong gravitational pull altered the comet's orbit and brought it into the inner solar system. Its orbital period changed from 40 years to about 6 years, and its perihelion is now about 1.59 AU (astronomical unit).

 Gallery 

 Other websites 
 NASA Team Analyzes Stardust Particle Capture  January 18, 2006
 NASA/JPL homepage for Stardust project
 Stardust@Home Volunteer Particle Analysis Project 
 IAU Ephemerides page for 81P
 Catalogue of all 72 raw images of Wild 2 

Category:Comets