1 day / second

0.5 AU

103P/Hartley 2

Comet

A small, peanut-shaped comet discovered in 1986 that rotates rapidly and shows unusual activity with dramatic jets of carbon dioxide gas erupting from its surface.

Key Facts

learn more

Wikipedia

mass

3.0000e+11 kg

radius

0.57 km

hill radius

58.757 km

semi-major axis

3.475 AU

eccentricity

0.694

inclination

13.61º

longitude of the ascending node

219.751º

argument of periapsis

181.301º

orbital period

6.478 years

discovery date

March 15, 1986

discovered by

Malcolm Hartley

name origins

Named after its discoverer Malcolm Hartley

dimensions

1.6 kilometers in diameter

material composition

Ice and dust (typical cometary material)
Spacecraft Visits
Deep Impact

Flyby

NASA

Launched in 2005, visited in 2010

Deep Impact performed a close flyby of comet Hartley 2 on November 4, 2010, approaching within 700 kilometers and capturing detailed images of the comet's unusual peanut-shaped nucleus.

Other Comets
Halley
Hale-Bopp
Borrelly
Tempel 1
Wild 2
Grigg-Skjellerup