1.   Comets are hunks of dirt and ice with elongated orbits that take them from the outer solar system to near the sun.

2.   Comets are balls of ice and dirt that circuit the sun in elongated orbits that take them to the outer reaches of the solar system.

3.   Its elongated orbit takes the object, probably a huge sphere of cold gases, closer to its star than Mercury gets to the Sun.

4.   Once embarked on its highly elongated orbit, a comet generally continues to make periodic returns to the inner solar system.

5.   The meteors are visible from Earth because as the planet orbits the Sun, it intersects every August the elongated orbit of Comet Swift-Tuttle.

6.   When enough large planets orbit a star in proximity, perhaps they generate a gravitational slingshot that projects the planets into elongated orbits.

7.   The spacecraft reached Mars in October and spent months reducing its elongated initial orbit through a process called aerobraking.