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Comets, such as C/2002 V1, formed around 4.6 billion years ago, when our Solar System was first born. Scientists believe they were then flung into the outer reaches of space, from where an occasional visitor will arrive, having had its orbit perturbed by gravitational forces.
Initially, astronomers thought C/2002 V1 (NEAT) was a newly arrived comet, on its first ever passage through the inner Solar System. Then, in January 2003, orbital calculation based on additional data showed that the comet is moving in a highly elliptical orbit. These results showed that C/2002 V1 (NEAT)'s last visit into the inner Solar System, took place when the first cave paintings were being daubed on cave walls in Europe, 37,000 years ago.
More info: SOHO
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