Magnetic Changes in the Sun as it's Poles are Shifting.

Unusual magnetic changes in the Sun – The north pole of the Sun had started flipping about a year earlier than expected

BY 

CHILLYMANJARO

 – APRIL 23, 2012POSTED IN: FEATURED STORIES, SOLAR ACTIVITIES, SPACE, SPACE WEATHER

While scientists had predicted that the next flip would begin from May 2013, the solar observation satellite Hinode found that the north pole of the sun had started flipping about a year earlier than expected. There was no noticeable change in the south pole.

The researchers found signs of unusual magnetic changes in the sun. Normally, the sun’s magnetic field flips about once every 11 years. In 2001, the sun’s magnetic north pole, which was in the northern hemisphere, flipped to the south. If that trend continues, magnetic field polarity at the solar poles will reverse and become quadrupolar in May, meaning positive fields will emerge in the North and South poles and negative fields will emerge on the equator, according to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and other institutes. A research team led by Saku Tsuneta, a professor at the observatory, analyzed solar magnetic fields data using Hinode, an observational satellite, and confirmed that the polarity of the magnetic field at the North Pole began to reverse in July last year.

Changes in Sun's magnetic poles (Credit: The Asahi Shimbun)

The research team believes the quadrupolar pattern also emerged in the 17th to 18th century. The Japanese study found that the trend of current sunspot activity is similar to records from Maunder Minimum, period about 300 years ago when temperatures are estimated to have been about 2.5 degrees lower than in the second half of the 20th century. Officials of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and the Riken research foundation said on April 19 that the activity of sunspots appeared to resemble a 70-year period in the 17th century in which London’s Thames froze over and cherry blossoms bloomed later than usual in Kyoto.

In 2008 in the Northern Hemisphereof the Sun (left) Hinude observed large patches of negative polarity, shown in orange. In 2011, the same area showed much smaller patches and a more even distribution of negative and positive (blue) regions. (Credit: JAXA/Hinode)

The Sun’s Poles

Like Earth, the Sun has a North Pole, a South Pole, and an equator. The poles of the Sun are different in several ways from the areas near the Sun’s equator. About every 11 years, the Sun’s magnetic poles flip – North becomes South and vice versa. This flip happens around the peak of the sunspot cycle, when there are lots of sunspots. Earth’s magnetic poles sometimes flip, too. However, it is usually many thousands or even millions of years between flips of Earth’s field - not just 11 years! The last polar reversal occurred around 750,000 years ago, but it can happen at shorter intervals, depending on prevailing circumstances.  Some researchers think our planet is overdue for another one, but nobody knows exactly when the next reversal might occur. Many scientists, including Einstein, have predicted that another polar shift is close at hand.  Several ancient civilisations have left records predicting global devastation and change.  The Hopi Indian and Mayan calendars have predicted global devastation and an era of change starting in the year 2012.

The ongoing changes are not confined to the space immediately around our star, Hathaway added. The Sun’s magnetic field envelops the entire solar system in a bubble that scientists call the “heliosphere.” The heliosphere extends 50 to 100 astronomical units (AU) beyond the orbit of Pluto. Inside it is the solar system – outside is interstellar space.

read more here http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2012/04/23/unusual-magnetic-changes-in-the-sun-the-north-pole-of-the-sun-had-started-flipping-about-a-year-earlier-than-expected/

"The Great Switch" --Sun's Magnetic Field Does a Complete Reverse Every 11 Years

           


About every 11 years the magnetic field on the sun reverses completely – the north magnetic pole switches to south, and vice versa. This flip coincides with the greatest solar activity seen on the sun in any given cycle, known as "solar maximum."

While the cycle unfolds with seeming regularity every 11 years, in two upcoming papers scientists highlight just how asymmetrical this process actually is. Currently the polarity at the north of the sun appears to have decreased close to zero – that is, it seems to be well into its polar flip from magnetic north to south -- but the polarity at the south is only just beginning to decrease.

"Right now, there's an imbalance between the north and the south poles," says Jonathan Cirtain, a space scientist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., who is also NASA's project scientist for a Japanese solar mission called Hinode. "The north is already in transition, well ahead of the south pole, and we don't understand why."

One of the two papers relies on Hinode data that shows direct observations of this polar switch. The other paper makes use of a new technique observing microwave radiation from the sun's polar atmosphere to infer the magnetic activity on the surface. 

The asymmetry described in the papers belies models of the sun that assume that the sun's north and south polarities switch at the same time. In addition, both papers agree that the switch is imminent at the north pole, well in advance of general predictions that solar maximum for this cycle will occur in 2013. Lastly, the direct Hinode results also suggest a need to re-examine certain other solar models as well.

Measuring the magnetic activity near the poles isn't easy because all of our solar telescopes view the sun approximately at its equator, offering only an oblique view of the poles, when they require a top-down view for accurate magnetic measurements. Hinode can observe this activity annually with its high resolution Solar Optical Telescope that can map magnetic fields when observing them from near the equator. 

The microwave radiation technique described in the second paper makes use of the discovery in 2003 that as the sun moves toward solar maximum, giant eruptions on the sun, called prominence eruptions – which during solar minimum, are concentrated at lower solar latitudes -- begin to travel toward higher latitudes near the poles. In addition, the polar brightness in the microwave wavelengths declines to very low values.

"These prominence eruptions are associated with increased solar activity such as coronal mass ejections or CMEs, so CMEs originating from higher latitudes also point to an oncoming solar maximum," says Nat Gopalswamy. Gopalswamy is a solar scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, who is the first author on the microwave observations paper, which was accepted by The Astrophysical Journal on April 11, 2012. "When we start to see prominence eruptions above 60 degrees latitude on the sun, then we know that we are reaching solar maximum."

read more at http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/04/the-great-switch-suns-magnetic-field-does-a-complete-reverse-every-11-years.html

Big Sunspot. Large Solar Flares. Venus Transit of Sun Doomsday Scare.

Solar Update

BIG SUNSPOT: One of the largest sunspot groups in years rotated over the sun's northeastern limb this weekend. With a least four dark cores larger than Earth, AR1476 sprawls more than 100,000 km from end to end, and makes an easy target for backyard solar telescopes. Amateur astronomer Alan Friedman sends this picture of the behemoth from his backyard in Buffalo, NY:

"AR1476 is firecrackler," says Friedman.

Indeed, the active region is crackling with impulsive M-class solar flares. Based on the sunspot's complex 'beta-gamma' magnetic field, NOAA forecasters estimate a 70% chance of more M-flares during the next 24 hours. There is also a 5% chance of powerful X-flares.

"This one is going to be fun as turns to face us!" predicts Friedman. He might be right.

Currently:

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: M1 1431 UT May07 
24-hr: M1 1431 UT May07 
explanation | more dataUpdated: Today at: 1900 UT

Forecast:

SPACE WEATHERNOAA Forecasts

Updated at: 2012 May 06 2200 UTC

FLARE	0-24 hr	24-48 hr
CLASS M	70 %	70 %
CLASS X	05 %	05 %

source:  http://spaceweather.com/

next up...the rare Venus transit of the Sun...

Will this alignment cause megaquakes or just an uptick in large earthquakes?  

Will this alignment cause strange weather phenomenon?  ...Okay, so we are already experiencing that...

OR...will this just be an amazing thing to have witnessed in our lifetime?  ...this is what I think it will be.

Rare Venus Transit of Sun Occurs in June: Skywatching Travel Tips

Imelda B. Joson and Edwin L. Aguirre

Date: 02 April 2012 Time: 07:00 AM ET

Mark your calendars! On June 5-6, a rare celestial event called a transit of Venus will take place, and it won't be repeated in your lifetime.

During the transit, Venus will pass directly in front of the sun from Earth's perspective, appearing as a small, slowly moving black dot. The last time this happened was in June 2004, but the next one won’t take place until December 2117. This is the last chance for anyone alive today to see the rare celestial sight.

Unlike a total eclipse of the sun, which is visible only within a long narrow track traced by the moon’s shadow, during the 2012 transit of Venus the entire hemisphere of Earth facing the sun will get to see at least part of the planet’s solar crossing.

The entire transit will be widely visible from eastern Asia, eastern Australia, New Zealand and the western Pacific, as well as Alaska, northern Canada and almost all of Greenland.

source: http://www.space.com/15116-venus-transit-2012-skywatching-travel-tips.html

INCLUDES 2012 SURVIVAL GUIDE

Perhaps you have heard the suggestion that an alignment of earth and the sun is contributing to a doomsday scenario in 2012.  When the page turns for the  Mayan calendar and the solar system is aligned somehow, the world is supposed to end.  In fact, there is a significant alignment of planets in 2012 that much of the world will be watching.   

Without question, Earth, Venus, and the sun will line up in a row as the nodes of their planetary orbits intersect on June 5-6, 2012.  This is not a mere "close conjunction."  Rather, it is a near-perfect alignment, a rare transit of Venus, and it has a track record of influencing humans since the first recorded observation in 1639. How will people of the world react?  Will our existence end in some cataclysmic global event?

First to the latter question. "Umm, no."  

No, the world will not end, any more than it ended for the Y2K turn of the calendar, when earth completed another orbit around the sun to end 1999.  The Venus transit is simply the happenstance of three solar system bodies being in a line.  It occurs naturally, periodically, and predictably as the planets dash around the sun, like two people running at different paces around an un-level field. 

Don't be scammed.  While hucksters will gladly try to separate you from your common sense (and more urgently, from your wallet), predictions of catastrophic disasters in 2012 have no basis in science.  Ignore the ignorance.  Surely some innocent people will be anxious about seemingly well-founded assertions of doom.  Advocates of demise will bandy around scholarly-sounding credentials  in an attempt to gain credibility, but they are only creating public anxiety where none ought be.  

Be more concerned about climate change, for example.  That's something for which there is a preponderance of scientific evidence--a human path toward global harm about which you can do something.  

Returning to the question about how people will react to the transit of Venus...Hopefully they will come out in droves to witness this syzygy (a very cool word unlikely to make it on a Scrabble board).  In centuries past, nations mounted global expeditions in cooperative scientific endeavors to tackle a common mystery.  They wanted to figure out where we fit in the cosmos--specifically, how big is the solar system?  A transit of Venus can reveal the answer.

Yes, the 2012 transit of Venus is a cosmic alignment, and you can witness it directly if you protect your eyes.  Here are some recommended steps to survive the event without peril.  Details are at www.transitofvenus.org.

Comet Elenin. C/2010 X1. Comet Orbit. All Things Comet Elenin Updated.

Comet Elenin Predicted to Pass a Stone's Throw Away from Earth

By Ron G Anselm

As we all know over the past few months we have had a lot of out of the ordinary things in science happen. First the Tsunami and earthquake that hit Japan and set off a scare that their damaged nuclear facilities could leak enough radiation that would make the Three-Mile Island nuclear disaster that happened in 1980 look like a puddle of spilled water, we have had the out of the ordinary storms that have pummeled the South and now a little comet by the name of Elenin " has taken a left turn out of its normal orbit and has taken more of a direct route toward Earth.

This little comet was first discovered Leonin Elenin who is an observer in Lyubertsy, Russia who first spotted the comet using the ISON-MM Observatory near Mayhill, New Mexico. The scientific name for this comet is C/2010 X1.

When the comet was first spotted about four months ago it was around 401 million miles from Earth. Now the little comet has closed the gap a little closer to Earth and is now around 274 million miles away as it stays on the course towards perihelion which is the closest point to the sun.

If anyone has ever studied comets this is really what they do. They start out on a course and change their course frequently has they speed through the star lit galaxies like a glowing snow ball. This is really a normal thing for any comet to do. Don Yeoman who works for NASA`s Near-Earth Objects Program Office stated, "That is what happens with these long-period comets that come in from way outside our planetary system, "They make these long, majestic, speedy arcs through our solar system, and sometimes they put on a great show. But not Elenin. Right now that comet looks kind of wimpy." (ScienceDaily.com)

When NASA talks about and defines the term wimpiness " they are referring to what a comet may or will look like as it passes by us. Elenin has not raised any eyebrows yet from NASA. It is so far a relatively small comet that would probably not inflict anymore damaged to anything it may impact than if you threw a rock through your neighbors window. Of course you can never be too sure of the size of any comet because you are looking at them through a telescope million of miles away so scientist normally chart the path of comets and keep an eye on them until they pass by us and our planet is out of harms way.

It just makes you wonder with everything we have seen over the past few months and now we have a comet inching closer to a collision course with Earth. And you have the 2012 phenomenon of the Mayan Calendar ending and all the hype that the end of time could happen. What could be next?

Comet Elenin is expected to be nothing more that a backyard cookout show when it passes Earth at its closest point on October 16 of this year. Since it is passing from the other end of the spectrum in our solar system you will probably need a very good pair of binoculars, a remote out of the way and dark location to even get a glimpse of the comet as it zooms by the horizon which at that time the comet will be about 22 million miles away.

Even though this is a small comet and is not expected to demolish our planet if it did collide with us, NASA is still looking at every avenue or effect the comet could have on our planet since it is passing by us at a very close distance. Some of the questions that are being look at are can this icy interloper influence us from where it is, or where it will be in the future? What about this celestial object inspiring some shifting of the tides or even tectonic plates here on Earth? (ScienceDaily.com)

http://thesop.org/story/20110514/comet-elenin-predicted-to-pass-a-stones-throw-away-from-earth.html

Comet Elenin Will NOT Destroy Earth, I Repeat…

May 9, 2011

By ParaNikkiowe

Every now and again I am a little embarrassed to be part of the ufology and ancient astronaut theory crowd.  Honestly, there are some real kooks out there that will come up with the wildest stories and lately, one of them, is that Comet Elenin (a.k.a. C2010 X1), a comet set to pass Earth in October, is somehow going to bring about earthquakes, tidal shifts, maybe even the end of the world depending on which wacko you believe.

Whenever I read these things, I always wonder for just a moment but then I immediately find myself trying to get to the source of it all.  Frankly, in spite of all the conspiracy theories I believe in, I think the scientists involved in the field would have their reasons for not telling us, i.e. they don’t want to cause a panic with something that can be and probably will be diverted, or there really is no cause for alarm which is the case WAY more often than not.

Yes, big things have come barreling through our atmosphere before and you never know when a meteor is going to come falling out of the sky but facts are facts and there are a number of experts trying to put these rumors to bed.  For instance, Discovery Science says that trajectory places it at about 21 million miles from Earth (more than 80 times farther away than the moon) at it’s closest pass and considering the minuscule size of the object it will have the equivalent effect on earth as a mosquito would if it hit head on with a ocean cruiser.  In case you didn’t catch that, it won’t have ANY effect on Earth.  It’s not going to slam into us, it’s not Nibiru, it’s not inhabited, it’s not the fulfillment of a Mayan prophecy, none of that.  Even the closest fly-by’s of other comets haven’t created natural disasters historically and this one will be much farther away than many have been.

If you seem to think otherwise, I’d be glad to hear why, but I can’t promise I’ll take you seriously.http://paranormalutopia.com/2011/05/comet-elenin-will-not-destroy-earth-i-repeat511/

Web Abuzz over Elenin Comet and Object(s) Following it

Monday, 09 May 2011

The internet is abuzz over new reports in regards to the Elenin Comet which is headed towards Earth, but more so of what is behind it... Based on reports published by China's space agency, Sergio Toscano, a director for Astronomical Research in Missions, said that behind the Elenin comet could be an UFO approaching.  "Behind the comet, discovered in December last year, Chinese scientists say there is a phenomenon, something they called cluster, which means globular cluster, or perhaps alien spacecraft," said Toscano. According to the report quoting the astronomer mission, the space body would be found in the comet's tail and was analyzed after the mysterious signals that came off of an unknown "strange and obscure" formation. In the words of Toscano, the Chinese have said that the spacecraft is stationed in the same place for ninety days, "before that looked like it was coming from an extraterrestrial civilization," said the Argentine scientist. According to the Daily Chronicle, this phenomenon was corroborated by Rosie Redfiel, the new director of the Program of NASA's Astrobiology. "But when NASA began to make calculations and projections of comet's orbit, they realized that something was wrong and the first thing they did was remove the website which provided information on this issue," said Toscano. http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/18123/56/ Wimpy comet to visit  solar system soon The comet Elenin, first discovered last fall, will be making a  visit to the inner solar system and near Earth soon. By Space.com Tue, May 10 2011 at 12:28 PM EST Photo: NASA A comet first discovered just six months ago will be making a visit to the inner solar system soon,  but don't expect to be completely dazzled. This comet is a bit of a wimp, NASA says. Comet Elenin (also known by its astronomical name C/2010 X1), was first detected on Dec. 10,  2010 by Leonid Elenin, an observer in Lyubertsy, Russia, who found the comet while using the  remote-controlled ISON-NM observatory near Mayhill, New Mexico. At the time of its discovery, the comet was about 401 million miles (647 million kilometers) from  Earth. Over the past 4 1/2 months, the comet has closed the distance to Earth's vicinity as it makes  its way closer to perihelion (its closest point to the sun). As of May 4, Comet Elenin's distance is about 170 million miles (274 million km). "That is what happens with these long-period comets that come in from way outside our planetary  system," said Don Yeomans of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion  Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., in a statement. "They make these long, majestic, speedy arcs through  our solar system, and sometimes they put on a great show. But not Elenin. Right now that comet looks  kind of wimpy." The comet doesn't offer much of a view and is quite dim to behold. [Video: Where Comets Come From] "We're talking about how a comet looks as it safely flies past us," said Yeomans. "Some cometary  visitors arriving from beyond the planetary region — like Hale-Bopp in 1997 — have really lit up the  night sky where you can see them easily with the naked eye as they safely transit the inner-solar  system. But Elenin is trending toward the other end of the spectrum. You'll probably need a good pair  of binoculars, clear skies, and a dark, secluded location to see it even on its brightest night." Comet Elenin, an icy run Comet Elenin should be at its brightest shortly before the time of its closest approach to Earth on Oct.  16 of this year. At its closest point, it will be 22 million miles (35 million km) from us. Even at such a distance, the comet will not be able to shift tides or tectonic plates here on Earth, as  some internet rumors have suggested. Some have even wondered if the comet could possibly be  pushed closer to Earth than usual. "Comet Elenin will not encounter any dark bodies that could perturb its orbit, nor will it influence us in  any way here on Earth," said Yeomans. "It will get no closer to Earth than 35 million kilometers." Not only is Elenin far away, but it is also on the small side for comets, said Yeomans.  [Photos of Halley's Comet Through History] "So you've got a modest-sized icy dirtball that is getting no closer than 35 million kilometers," said  Yeomans. "It will have an immeasurably miniscule influence on our planet. By comparison, my subcompact  automobile exerts a greater influence on the ocean's tides than comet Elenin ever will." Fall's cosmic comet show But just because the comet won't change much here on Earth doesn't mean skywatchers shouldn't pay  attention. "This comet may not put on a great show. Just as certainly, it will not cause any disruptions here on  Earth. But there is a cause to marvel," said Yeomans. "This intrepid little traveler will offer astronomers  a chance to study a relatively young comet that came here from well beyond our solar system's planetary  region. After a short while, it will be headed back out again, and we will not see or hear from Elenin for  thousands of years. That's pretty cool." NASA detects, tracks and characterizes asteroids and comets passing relatively close to Earth using both  ground- and space-based telescopes. The agency's Near-Earth Object Observations Program, commonly called "Spaceguard," discovers these  objects, characterizes a subset of them, and predicts their paths to determine if any could be potentially  hazardous to our planet. http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/stories/wimpy-comet-to-visit-solar-system-soon Comet Elenin to Come Close to Earth this Fall May 9, 2011; 10:05 AM ET Comet Elenin is coming to the inner-solar system this fall. Comet Elenin (also known by its astronomical  name C/2010 X1) was first detected on Dec. 10, 2010, by Leonid Elenin, an observer in Lyubertsy, Russia,  who made the discovery "remotely" using the ISON-NM observatory near Mayhill, N.M. At the time of the  discovery, the comet was about 647 million km (401 million miles) from Earth. Over the past four and a  half months, the comet has closed the distance to Earth's vicinity as it makes its way closer to perihelion.  As of May 4, Elenin's distance is about 274 million km (170 million miles). "That is what happens with  these long-period comets that come in from way outside our planetary system," said Don Yeomans of  NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "They  make these long, majestic, speedy arcs through our solar system, and sometimes they put on a great  show. But not Elenin. Right now that comet looks kind of wimpy." Comet Elenin should be at its brightest shortly before the time of its closest approach to Earth on Oct.  16 of this year. At its closest point, it will be 35 million km (22 million miles) from us. Can this icy invader  influence us from where it will be this fall? What about this celestial object inspiring some shifting of the  tides or even tectonic plates here on Earth? There have been some incorrect Internet speculations that  external forces could cause comet Elenin to come closer. "Comet Elenin will not encounter any dark bodies that could perturb its orbit, nor will it influence us in any  way here on Earth," said Yeomans. "(Thus) It will get no closer to Earth than 35 million kilometers [about  22 million miles]. Comet Elenin will not only be far away, it is also on the small side for comets," said  Yeomans. "And comets are not the most densely-packed objects out there. They usually have the density  of something akin to loosely packed icy dirt. So you've got a modest-sized icy dirtball that is getting no  closer than 35 million kilometers. It will have an immeasurably miniscule influence on our planet. By  comparison, my subcompact automobile exerts a greater influence on the ocean's tides than comet Elenin  ever will." Even if this is the case, Yeomans added, "This intrepid little traveler will offer astronomers a chance to  study a relatively young comet that came here from well beyond our solar system's planetary region.  After a short while, it will be headed back out again, and we will not see or hear from Elenin for  thousands of years. That's pretty cool." NASA Simulation of Comet Elenin's Journe http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/astronomy/story/49381/comet_elenin_to_come_close_to_earth_this_fall_1.asp C/2010 X1  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2010_X1 For the conspiracy theory regarding a supposed collision between Earth and Comet Elenin, see Nibiru collision. astronomer Leonid Elenin on December 10, 2010 at the International Scientific  Comet C/2010 X1 (Elenin) is a long-period comet discovered by Russian  Optical Network's robotic observatory near Mayhill, New Mexico, U.S.A. At the time of discovery Elenin had an apparent magnitude of 19.5,[2]  making it about 150,000 times fainter than thenaked eye magnitude of 6.5.[5] The discoverer, Leonid Elenin, estimates that the comet  nucleus is 3–4 km in diameter.[6] As of April 2011, the comet is around magnitude 15 (roughly the brightness of Pluto), and the coma  (expanding tenuous dust atmosphere) of the comet is estimated to be about 80,000 km in diameter.[7] C/2010 X1 will come to perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) on 10 September 2011 at a distance of 0.4824 AU.[3] On 16 October 2011,  the comet will pass within about 0.233 AU (34,900,000 km; 21,700,000 mi) of the Earth[3] at a relative velocity of 86,000 km/hr.[3] The Minor  Planet Center ephemeris shows this relatively bright comet will reach about 6th magnitude near mid-October 2011,[8] but until the activity level of the coma is better known it is still uncertain just how bright this comet will become.[9]Elenin will make its closest apparent pass  in the night sky to Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková on the morning of October 8, before moving apparently close to and in front of  Mars on October 15. The comet came to opposition at 178° from the Sun on March 14 and will come to opposition again on November  22 at 175° from the Sun. The minimum angle between the Sun and comet will occur September 26 (1.9°), and between July 28 and October  10 the comet will be less than 45 degrees from the Sun. Given the orbital eccentricity of this object, different epochs can generate quite different heliocentric unperturbed two-body best-fit solutions  to the aphelion distance (maximum distance) of this object. Near perihelion using an August 2011 epoch, Kazuo Kinoshita shows C/2010 X1  to have a heliocentric orbital period of 600,000 years,[10] but being on a highly eccentric orbit, the comet will be frequently perturbed by the  planets as it leaves the inner solar system.[11] For objects at such high eccentricity, the Sun's barycentric coordinates are more stable than  heliocentric coordinates.[12] The orbit of a long-period comet is properly obtained when the osculating orbit is computed at an epoch after  leaving the planetary region and is calculated with respect to the center of mass of the solar system. Using JPL Horizons with an observed  orbital arc of 147 days, the barycentric orbital elements for epoch 2020-Jan-01 generate a semi-major axis of 515 AU and a period of  approximately 11,700 years.[4] Before entering the planetary region (epoch 1950), Elenin had a calculated barycentric orbital period of ~3.5 million years with an apoapsis  (aphelion) distance of about 46,400 AU (0.73 light-years).[4] Elenin was probably in the outer Oort cloud with a loosely bound chaotic orbit  that was easily perturbed by passing stars. Plot showing how Comet Elenin comes into the planetary region on a hyperbolic orbit and after perihelion is perturbed into an elliptical orbit that is bound to the Sun.