periodic comet

plural periodic comets · alternative periodical comet

1. astronomyA comet which orbits the Sun and which returns to the innermost point of its orbit at known, regular intervals.

   Comet Temple-Tuttle is what astronomers call a "periodic comet," one of hundreds that routinely and predictably continue to orbit the Sun.

   2001 November 8, P. Clay Sherrod, Gian Trotta, “A History of the Leonid Storm”, in SPACE.com, retrieved 26 Jan 2016

   1 more example

   The computation of the elements of its orbit reveals the fact that they are almost identical with those of Comet III, 1869, and hence it becomes what in astronomical language is called a periodic comet.

   1880, Lewis Swift, “The New Periodic Comet”, in Science, volume 1, number 21, page 258