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Perturbation is a term used in astronomy to describe alterations to an object's orbit caused by gravitational interactions with other bodies. For example, the orbits of comets are often perturbed, particularly by the gravitational fields of the giant planets - Jupiter's gravitational influence caused the period of Comet Hale-Bopp's orbit to decrease from 4200 to 2800 years. Planets also perturb the orbits of other planets, a fact which lead to the discovery of Neptune as a result of its perturbations of the orbit of Uranus.
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