39P/Oterma

Author(s): SpaceExplorer FarGetaNik

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39P/Oterma is a periodic comet currently orbiting between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, discovered in 1943. Its orbit is quite unstable in the long term due to gravitational perturbations from the two gas giants. Before 1937, it had a centaur-like orbit, until a low-velocity encounter with Jupiter temporarily placed it into a quasi-Hilda orbit crossing the asteroid belt. A subsequent encounter with Jupiter in 1963 returned it to a centaur orbit, where it will remain for many centuries. It made distant approaches to Saturn and Jupiter in 2011 and 2025, respectively.

39P/Oterma's trajectory (1800 to 2200)

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