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Orbit Rigged

Here's the rig!

  1. Last November, '95 the IAU came out with orbital elements that had HB arriving at perihelion on March 31, giving perihelion distance (distance from the Sun) and eccentricity (difference in the elliptical curve from the curve a circle presents.
  2. Then this spring NASA came forth on Feb. 22, '96 with new orbital elements, showing the mythical HB anticipated to pull closer to Jupiter when passing it. Accordingly, since HB would be expected to pull closer to the Sun, they adjusted the eccentricity to show a tighter loop, and showed a slight shortening of the perihelion distance.
  3. Then on May 28, JPL announced new orbital elements pretty much in line with what NASA had announced, with a slightly longer eccentricity and perihelion distance, saying, I suppose, that the mythical HB was anticipated to be a bit farther out from Jupiter than formerly expected, not quite so perturbed.
  4. Now, on June 27, JPL posts new orbital elements, stating "error correction" without explaining the errors, and guess what! Even though they sent the mythical HB out back to where it was to what the IAU orbit presented last November, '95, instead of returning the eccentricity and perihelion distance back out where they belong, indicting a wider loop around the Sun, they did the opposite! They tightened the eccentricity, and shortened the perihelion distance! Yup. Caught.
  5. What explanation do they have for this? Supposedly, per Mausden, HB is a repeater last coming through the solar system some 3-4,000 years ago. Do they know from prior experience how close it will go to the Sun, and what the backward track will be? Nope.
  6. They just didn't think all you dopes out there would figure this out! And guess what! You didn't! It went right by you'all, while you were listening to the choir sing about how glorious HB is from the free way, with binoculars, and even the blind mother-in-law saw it while hiding under the bed, and it was big, and it was bright, and anyone who doesn't join the party is a fool for not doing so as they'll get ridiculed just like Nancy. The shepherds of sci.astro and sci.astro.amateur sure do think you guys are dumb, docile, and easily intimidated!
  7. Here's the numbers on eccentricity and perihelion distance. I won't repost the zig-zag, showing that 6/27/96 moved the orbit out again, away from the Sun, as that was recently posted. This is all per the IAU, NASA, and JPL, the orbital elements they posted. I stayed away, and the pot boiled :-)
			Eccentricity (e)	Perihelion Distance (q)
IAU on 11/95		.9953   		.9143
NASA on 2/2/96		.99502  		.91412
JPL on 5/28/96		.995038  		.91419
JPL on 6/27/96		.9950727		.914084