The orbit of Halley's comet, last seen in 1986 and due to return in 2061, is an ellipse with eccentricity 0.97 and one focus at the sun. The length of its major axis is 36.18 AU. [An astronomical unit (AU) is the mean distance between the earth and the sun, about 93 million miles.] Find a polar equation for the orbit of Halley's comet.  r =        What is the maximum distance from the comet to the sun?

Algebra & Trigonometry with Analytic Geometry
13th Edition
ISBN:9781133382119
Author:Swokowski
Publisher:Swokowski
Chapter11: Topics From Analytic Geometry
Section11.2: Ellipses
Problem 68E
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The orbit of Halley's comet, last seen in 1986 and due to return in 2061, is an ellipse with eccentricity 0.97 and one focus at the sun. The length of its major axis is 36.18 AU. [An astronomical unit (AU) is the mean distance between the earth and the sun, about 93 million miles.] Find a polar equation for the orbit of Halley's comet. 

r = 
 
 
 



What is the maximum distance from the comet to the sun? 
 ________AU

 
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9781133382119
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Swokowski
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Cengage