A comet is classified by its period, the length of time it takes to travel once around the sun. A short-period comet has an orbit approximately as large as Jupiter’s; such a comet has a period of 3.3 to 9 years. A long-period comet follows a path about the size of Neptune’s orbit; Halley’s Comet is an example of a long-period comet. A very long-period comet may take thousands of years to orbit the sun, or it may pass by the sun once and then never return.
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