103P/Hartley
Comet Hartley 2, designated as 103P/Hartley by the Minor Planet Center, is a small periodic comet with an orbital period of 6.48 years. It was discovered by Malcolm Hartley in 1986 at the Schmidt Telescope Unit, Siding Spring Observatory, Australia. Its diameter is estimated to be
Key facts
- Comet.name
- 103P/Hartley
- Comet.image
- Comet Hartley 2.jpg
- Comet.caption
- The nucleus of Comet Hartley 2 photographed by the Deep Impact (EPOXI) mission on November 2010
- Comet.discoverer
- Malcolm Hartley
- Comet.discovery_site
- Siding Spring, Australia
- Comet.discovery_date
- 15 March 1986
- Comet.mpc_name
- P/1986 E2, P/1991 N1
- Comet.epoch
- 5 May 2025 (JD 2460800.5)
- Comet.observation_arc
- 20.44 years
- Comet.obs
- 8,857
- Comet.perihelion
- 1.06 AU
- Comet.aphelion
- 5.89 AU
Article
9 sectionsContents
- Discovery and orbit
- 2010 Earth approach
- 2023 Earth approach
- Characteristics
- ''Deep Impact'' flyby
- Results
- See also
- References
- External links
Comet Hartley 2, designated as 103P/Hartley by the Minor Planet Center, is a small periodic comet with an orbital period of 6.48 years. It was discovered by Malcolm Hartley in 1986 at the Schmidt Telescope Unit, Siding Spring Observatory, Australia. Its diameter is estimated to be
Hartley 2 was the target of a flyby of the Deep Impact spacecraft, as part of the EPOXI mission, on 4 November 2010, which was able to approach within of Hartley 2 as part of its extended mission. Hartley 2 is the smallest comet which has been visited. It is the fifth comet visited by spacecraft, and the second comet visited by the Deep Impact spacecraft, which first visited comet Tempel 1 on 4 July 2005.