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Halley's Comet is in a highly elliptical orbit around the sun. Therefore the orbital speed of Halley's Comet, while traveling around the sun,

a) is constant.
b) increases as it nears the Sun.
c) decreases as it nears the Sun. d) is zero at two points in the orbit.

1 Answer

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Final answer:

The orbital speed of Halley's Comet decreases as it nears the Sun due to the stronger gravitational pull.

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer:

The correct answer is c) decreases as it nears the Sun.

Halley's Comet is in a highly elliptical orbit around the Sun, which means its distance from the Sun varies significantly during each orbit. As the comet gets closer to the Sun, it experiences a stronger gravitational pull, causing it to accelerate and increase its orbital speed. Conversely, as the comet moves away from the Sun, the gravitational pull weakens, resulting in a decrease in orbital speed.

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