<blockquote>
<p>Why does the comets are able to cross the planets orbit without touching the planet</p>
<p>Why not they get attracted by the planets when they are in their orbit.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They are attracted to the planets, but unless they get very close to a planet, the Sun's attraction is dominant by quite a margin and the planets only have very small effects on the comets' paths.</p>
<p>&quot;Touch&quot; would be the same as &quot;collide&quot; in this context.  The distances are simply huge and in general they are not going to be that close.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Why the force of gravitation could not attract or compel the COMET to rotate around them.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Sun's the big force and you need to be much closer to a planet to be significantly affected by its gravitational attraction compared to the Sun's.  Jupiter is the next most important (which is why Jupiter has, over huge timescales, built up a large number of small moons).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-07T12:01:00.967Z
2017-01-07T15:10:54.630Z
2020-06-17T09:47:40.653Z
StephenG - Help Ukraine
<p>Why are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet" rel="nofollow noreferrer">comets</a> able to cross planetary orbits without colliding with the planets - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8zV1xiGqf4" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Why is the comets' orbits elliptical, intersecting all the other planets' orbit.</a></p>

<p>Why don't they get attracted by the planets when they are in their orbit. </p>

<p>Or, why doesn't the force of gravitation from the planets not attract or compel the <a href="http://www.space.com/53-comets-formation-discovery-and-exploration.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">comet</a> to rotate around them.</p>

<planet><orbit><gravity><comets>
Why the comets can cross the orbits of planets?
Harsh Kumar
# Why the comets can cross the orbits of planets?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-01-07)

Why are [comets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet) able to cross planetary orbits without colliding with the planets - [Why is the comets' orbits elliptical, intersecting all the other planets' orbit.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8zV1xiGqf4)

Why don't they get attracted by the planets when they are in their orbit.

Or, why doesn't the force of gravitation from the planets not attract or compel the [comet](http://www.space.com/53-comets-formation-discovery-and-exploration.html) to rotate around them.

**Tags:** planet, orbit, gravity, comets

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-01-07. Score: 2

> Why does the comets are able to cross the planets orbit without touching the planet
>
> Why not they get attracted by the planets when they are in their orbit.

They are attracted to the planets, but unless they get very close to a planet, the Sun's attraction is dominant by quite a margin and the planets only have very small effects on the comets' paths.

"Touch" would be the same as "collide" in this context. The distances are simply huge and in general they are not going to be that close.

> Why the force of gravitation could not attract or compel the COMET to rotate around them.

The Sun's the big force and you need to be much closer to a planet to be significantly affected by its gravitational attraction compared to the Sun's. Jupiter is the next most important (which is why Jupiter has, over huge timescales, built up a large number of small moons).


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