Comet
The Stardust spacecraft flew through its coma in 2004 and returned the first samples of cometary dust to Earth.
| Type | Comet |
|---|---|
| Distance from the Sun | 3.45 AU |
| Diameter | 4 km |
| Mass | 2.30 × 10^13 kg |
| Temperature | -123°C |
| Orbital period | 2,341 days |
| Apparent magnitude | 11.5 |
| Redshift | 0 |
| Discovered | 1978 |
At 4 km across, Comet Wild 2 is less than a thousandth of the diameter of Earth.
Its mass is less than a thousandth of the mass of Earth.
It keeps an average distance of 3.45 AU from the Sun, so sunlight takes 29 minutes to reach it.
A single orbit takes 6.4 years.
An average temperature of 150 K works out at -123 degrees Celsius, colder than the 15 degrees Earth averages.
It has been on record since 1978.
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