103P/Hartley

This article is about 103P/Hartley. For other comets, see Comet Hartley.

103P/Hartley
Photograph from close approach by EPOXI mission
Discovery
Discovered byMalcolm Hartley
Discovery date15 March 1986
Designations
103P/1986 E2
Orbital characteristics
Epoch2023-10-23[1]
Aphelion5.89 AU (Q)
Perihelion1.06 AU (q)
Semi-major axis3.48 AU (a)
Eccentricity0.694
Orbital period6.48 years
Inclination13.61°
Last perihelion20 April 2017[2][3]
28 October 2010[2]
Next perihelion2023-Oct-12[1]
2030-Apr-05[4]
Earth MOID0.072 AU (10,800,000 km)[5]

Comet Hartley 2, designated as 103P/Hartley by the Minor Planet Center,[6] is a small periodic comet with an orbital period of 6.48 years.[1] It was discovered by Malcolm Hartley in 1986 at the Schmidt Telescope Unit, Siding Spring Observatory, Australia.[5] Its diameter is estimated to be 1.2 to 1.6 kilometres (0.75 to 0.99 mi).[5][7]

Hartley 2 was the target of a flyby of the Deep Impact spacecraft, as part of the EPOXI mission, on 4 November 2010,[8] which was able to approach within 700 kilometers (430 mi) of Hartley 2 as part of its extended mission.[9] As of November 2010 Hartley 2 is the smallest comet which has been visited.[10] 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.[11]

  1. ^ a b c MPC
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Yoshida-103p was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Syuichi Nakano (13 October 2010). "103P/Hartley 2 (NK 2000)". OAA Computing and Minor Planet Sections. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Horizons2030 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference jpldata was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference PeriodicCodes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference epoxi_status was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Tune, Lee; Steigerwald, Bill; Hautaluoma, Grey; Agle, D.C. (13 December 2007). "Deep Impact Extended Mission Heads for Comet Hartley 2". University of Maryland, College Park. Archived from the original on 20 June 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lisse2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference S&T20101104 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "UMD Leads Deep Impact Spacecraft on Successful Flyby of Comet Hartley 2" (Press release). NASA. 4 November 2010. Archived from the original on 12 December 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2010.