Starship Asterisk*

The orbits of Sedna and Hale Bopp are so far out; that it is a wonder that they don't escape the Sun's gravitational pull http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?ss_distant

orin stepanek wrote:The orbits of Sedna and Hale Bopp are so far out; that it is a wonder that they don't escape the Sun's gravitational pull :? http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?ss_distant

They are in orbit. There is no maximum size an orbit can have. However, at the distant parts of their orbits, they feel only a small force from the Sun, so it takes only a small force to make a big change in their orbits. Such objects are not stable over the long term- they have not been in these orbits for long, and will not remain in them for long (in terms of the age of the Solar System).