How long is Comet Hyakutaks orbital period?
Comet Hyakutake is a comet that was discovered in January 1996 which passed very close to the Earth in March of that year. It was one of the closest cometary approaches to the Earth in the last 200 years. The comet became very bright in the night sky, and, as a result, temporarily upstaged the long-awaited Comet Hale-Bopp. Scientific observations of the comet led to several notable discoveries, nost surprising being the discovery of X-ray emissions, the first time a comet had been found to be doing this. Hyakutake is a long period comet with an orbital period of about 15,000 years, although the gravitational influence of the giant planets has increased this to 72,000 years.
