Life on an Earth-like planet with a comet-like orbit?

I'm looking to create a world with a predefined "once every X years" type of event, I realized that something like a comet would work for this purpose in terms of events but I need a planet with an atmosphere, oceans (even if frozen), landmasses, etc.

Halley's Comet comes around once every ~76 years; the Wikipedia article states the distances the comet will come within some of the planets. Included is this quote:

and then on 20 August 2061 will pass within 0.0543 AU (8,120,000 km) of Venus.

Based on information like this, would an Earth-like world on a similar orbital path to Halley's Comet warm up enough on the portion of its orbit near the sun to match Earth-like conditions (temperate/tropical) for a short time?

Would life be able hibernate for the long outer system orbit and then thaw out for the inner part? (I'm thinking something like mayflies but for ALL of the life plants/animals, etc.)

How long would the 'warm' inner part of the transition last?

posted almost 8 years ago

Culyx‭

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