Two comet system

[petrushka.googol]

Just like we have a two satellite system (eg. Mars has two satellites Deimos and Phobos), is it possible to have a 2 comet system around the Sun?

 

i.e 2 comets sharing the same orbit in anti-phase.

 

What are the odds of this happening?

[BearOfNH]

Are you saying Deimos and Phobos share the same orbit?

[Enthalpy]

Some celestial bodies can be synchronized. For instance, some asteroids share Jupiter's orbit and are 60° before or after it. I've not heard of 180° positions.

Some moons of Saturn have synchronized their periods (1:2:4 ratio from memory).

 

But I don't expect comets to do it:

- They are erratic by nature and won't stay on one orbit long enough

- They are too light to synchronize an other.

[petrushka.googol]

Are you saying Deimos and Phobos share the same orbit?

 

To rephrase "share the same orbit" implies "move around the same parent".

Words can be misleading.

Sorry about that.

[BusaDave9]

A comet has an extremely eccentric orbit. It comes in close to the sun, accelerating very fast. Then they are flung far out into space. They may sit our beyond the planets for hundreds or thousands of years. The more famous comets come back with predictable shorter orbits (Halley's Comet orbits every 75 years)

Since a comet's orbit is so eccentric, almost like a random object falling into our solar system to be flung back out into space, many comets may have similar orbits but it is very unlikely that 2 would have the same orbit.