Orbital Characteristics of Comets

There exist several classification schemes for comets and one criterion is to use then-orbital parameters. 

The icy objects in the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud become ejected into the inner solar system where they appear as comets. Perturbations by outer planets occur in the Kuiper belt, these become short period comets, perturbations by nearby passing stars affect objects in the Oort cloud, these become long period comets. 

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