comet-family

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A number of periodic comets which have orbits that nearly intersect the orbit of one of the larger planets and are supposed to have been captured on some past occasion of near approach, their orbits having then been transformed from parabolas to ellipses. Jupiter's comet-family comprises nearly thirty members with periods ranging from three to eight years. Saturn is credited with two, Uranus with two, and Neptune with six.