Definition
Comet 81 P/Wild, also named Wild 2, was discovered in 1978. After a passage close to Jupiter in 1974, its orbit moved toward the inner solar system, with a high ellipticity and a short period (6.4 years). Its perihelion is close to 1 AU. In January 2004, comet Wild 2 was approached by the Stardust spacecraft which collected cometary grains from its tail and brought them back to Earth in 2006. This cometary matter included material originate from different regions of the solar system. Comet Wild 2 is the only comet for which samples have been brought back to Earth and analyzed.
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© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Encrenaz, T. (2011). Comet Wild 2. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_323
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_323
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-11271-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-11274-4
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