On Mon, 2010-01-04 at 04:36 -0800, Alastair wrote: > Yes, as the major axis increases due to the gravitational pull of > Jupiter, the minor axis decreases until it reaches 1AU, then crash!
The Earth has a much bigger "gravity well" than surface area. If a comet or other body comes close, then the Earth's gravity will much more likely deflect it into a different orbit than there be an impact. This different orbit might be an Earth impacting one, or also might be a Venus impacting one, but is more likely going to have multiple close passages with one or more planets before any impact, or before ejection from the solar system. -- Phil Hays <[email protected]> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Global Change ("globalchange") newsgroup. Global Change is a public, moderated venue for discussion of science, technology, economics and policy dimensions of global environmental change. Posts will be admitted to the list if and only if any moderator finds the submission to be constructive and/or interesting, on topic, and not gratuitously rude. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalchange
