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How fast are comets?

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Martin Archer answered on 20 Mar 2013: The speed of comets can vary a lot, depending on its orbit and where it is in it. The closer they are to the Sun though, the faster they're going. We think the fastest ever comet went at 366 miles a second back in 1843. read more

Kepler's laws explain the speeds of objects like comets that travel in elliptical orbits. In basic terms, the wider the orbit, the slower the speed. A more narrow orbit results in a higher speed. read more

Most comets move much faster than the Earth's velocity around the Sun, which is about eighteen miles per second. Halley's comet makes a wide loop every seventy-six years. Its farthest point from the Sun is beyond Neptune. When it is that far out, it parades through space very slowly; an airplane could probably keep up with it. read more

If a comet is a periodic comet, that means it needs to have an elliptic orbit around the Sun. That gives an upper limit to its speed of the escape speed from the solar system on the orbit of the Earth. read more

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