Halley

Halley
Halley in Orbiter 2016 with D3D9 client
Designation
Name	Halley
Reference body	Sun
Planetary mean orbits
Epoch	2006
Semimajor axis (a)	2669601650361.16 m
Eccentricity (e)	0.967449497943645
Inclination (i)	162.2922643° (2.83253436266766 radian)
Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊)	58.2997774° (1.01752306877974 radian)
Longitude of periapsis (ϖ)	169.4792496° (2.95797092009003 radian)
Mean longitude (L)	264.6340534° (4.61873554527679 radian)
Selected physical parameters
Mean radius	5500 km
Mass	1×1014 kg
Rotation elements
SidRotPeriod	187200 seconds (52 hours)
SidRotOffset	0
Obliqutiy	0
LAN	0
Note	*Elements given are from Halley.cfg (Halley.zip)

Project home: Halley's Comet Nucleus Author: Nighthawke Current version: 2004-11-22 Compatibility:

Halley's Comet, also referred to as 1P/Halley, is a short period comet appearing in the skies every 72 to 80 years, last seen in 1986 and the next will be in 2061. Named after Edmond Halley who was the first to recognize it as a recurring comet although it has been seen since ancient times.

Halley in Orbiter

Halley was introduced to Orbiter as an add-on in 2004. Since Orbiter was not designed to show a comet's tails, the add-on depicts it as a rugby ball shaped body much like an asteroid. Halley orbits the Sun in a very elliptical orbit, moving retrograde to the Sun, unlike the planets which move prograde, or counter-clockwise looking from the north of the Solar System. Periapsis takes Halley to between the orbits of Mercury and Venus, and at apoapsis it is beyond Pluto.

Note that when landed on Halley near the apoapsis, Halley provides only about 1% of the total gravity, the other 99% by the Sun, but, near apoapsis, Halley provides 98% of the gravity, the Sun, only about 2%. It may be difficult to stay landed near Halley's periapsis. The sphere of influence near apoapsis is about 37 km from the center, and near periapsis, the SOI is right about the surface.

It can be difficult to visit Halley as when it is near apoapsis, Halley is traveling at about 900 m/s, but it's 35 AU from the Sun. Near Periapsis, it's about 0.5 AU from the Sun, but it's traveling almost 55000 m/s.

It should also be noted that when landing on Halley that the visual surfaces are well below the hard radius (5500 meters), which is not visible, so instrument landing with HUD in surface is recommended.

Add-ons which include Halley.

Add-on	Source	Version	Author	Type	Release Date	Compatibility	Wiki article
Halley's Comet Nucleus	O-F Resources	2004-11-22	Nighthawke	Scenery	22 November 2004

See also

Halley's Comet at Wikipedia