Caption: This EPOXI mission image of comet 103P/Hartley 2 was taken 12 days from Encounter (E-12d) using the Medium Resolution Instrument (MRI) and a clear filter. Science Team member Dr. Dennis Wellnitz combined three successive one-minute exposures to make this single image. The mid-exposure time was 2010/10/23 00:09:25 UTC. The comet was 1.06 AU from the Sun and 0.09 AU (13 million km) from the spacecraft.
Image Parameter | Details |
Spacecraft: | Deep Impact Flyby |
Instrument: | Medium Resolution Instrument (MRI) |
Mid-exposure Date/Time (UTC): | 2010/10/23 00:09:25 |
Filter: | Clear |
Exposure: | 3 x 60 sec |
Pointing: | RA 20h 43' 01" Dec +37° 14' 56" |
Field of View: | approximately 34,000 km at the comet |
Solar Elongation: | 101° |
Solar Phase Angle: | 75° |
Sun-Comet distance (r): | 1.0612 AU (159 million km) |
DIF-Comet distance: | 0.0889 AU (13 million km) |
Table 1: Data about image.
Click for full size image. This is the same image as above, but without the pointers. |
Click for full size image. Negative of the same image which makes it a little easier to see the faint coma around the comet. |
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD