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Cometa 103P/Hartley 2

Comet 103P/Hartley 2 is approaching Earth and should be dimly visible to the naked eye from dark sky sites. (Hartley 2's path from Oct. 18 to Nov. 3) The comet was discovered in 1986, and was found to orbit the Sun every 6.4 years, This year, the comet reaches its perihelion - its closest distance to the Sun - on October 28. On the 20th, it reaches its closest distance to Earth, passing about 11 million miles (18 million km) away. It will be the target of NASA's EPOXI spacecraft, which will fly by the comet's nucleus at a distance of just 600 miles on November 4. If all goes well, we should have ringside seats to the close-up exploration of this fascinating planetary body!

Noticias:

• What's New: A Naked-Eye Comet? - CfA, Oct 2010
• Comet Hartley 2 At Its Best - S&T, Oct 2010

  From now until October 20th, when Comet Hartley 2 is closest to Earth, it's best observed in the early-morning sky.

• NASA Spacecraft Hurtles Toward Active Comet Hartley 2 - NASA Science News - October 15, 2010

  NASA's Deep Impact/EPOXI spacecraft is hurtling toward Comet Hartley 2 for a breathtaking 435-mile flyby on Nov. 4th. Mission scientists say all systems are go for a close encounter with one of the smallest yet most active comets they've seen.

• NASA EPOXI Flyby Reveals New Insights Into Comet Features - NASA - November 4, 2010

Enlaces:

• Elements and Ephemeris for 103P/Hartley Minor Planet Center, IAU
• Comet 103P/Hartley Cometary Science Archive
• 3D Orbit for 103P/Hartley 2 JPL
• Comet 103P/Hartley 2 Gary W. Kronk's Cometography
• Comet 103P/Hartley 2 Seiichi Yoshida

NASA's Deep Impact/EPOXI Comet Flyby:

• EPOXI Mission NASA
• EPOXI Mission - The Daily Comet NASA

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