In astronomy, what term describes the point in the orbit of a planet or comet at which it is farthest from the Sun?
Great Comet of 1901 over 43 days, Charles J. Merfield (1866–1931) could calculate only a parabolic orbit, inclined about 131° to the ecliptic. The comet travelled in a retrograde orbit relative to the planetary orbits. The comet was on April 10 about .56 AU from Venus and on April 21 about .19 AU from Mercury. On April 24 the comet reached perihelion at about .245 AU from the Sun. On April 30 the comet made its closest approach to planet Earth at about .83 AU. In the section of his "Astronomical Memoirs" entitled 1901, Tebbutt wrote: Great Comet of 1901 The Great Comet of
Elongation (astronomy) Elongation (astronomy) In astronomy, a planet's elongation is the angular separation between the Sun and the planet, with Earth as the reference point. The greatest elongation of a given inferior planet occurs when this planet’s position, in its orbital path around the Sun, is at tangent to the observer on Earth. Since an inferior planet is well within the area of Earth's orbit around the Sun, observation of its elongation should not pose that much a challenge (compared to deep-sky objects, for example). When a planet is at its greatest elongation, it appears farthest from the Sun as viewed from