EPOXI

Two intriguing investigations -- One flight-proven spacecraft

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103P on 2010-11-04: Introducing Comet Hartley 2

Third of the five pre-selected close approach images sent back

Caption: Comet Hartley 2 can be seen in glorious detail in this image from NASA's EPOXI mission. It was taken as the spacecraft flew by around 6:59 a.m. PDT (9:59 a.m. EDT), from a distance of about 700 kilometers (435 miles). The comet's nucleus, or main body, is approximately 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) long and .4 kilometers (.25 miles) at the "neck," or most narrow portion. Jets can be seen streaming out of the nucleus.

The mission's Medium-Resolution Instrument was used to capture this view. The sun is to the right.

This EPOXI mission image of comet 103P/Hartley 2 was taken right at about the Time of Closest Approach (TCA) using the Medium Resolution Instrument (MRI) and a clear filter. The mid-exposure time was 2010/11/04 13:59 UTC.

Technical Details

Image Parameter	Details
Spacecraft:	Deep Impact Flyby
Instrument:	Medium Resolution Instrument (MRI)
Mid-exposure Date/Time (UTC):	2010/11/04 13:59
Filter:	Clear
Exposure:	0.04 sec
Pointing:
Field of View:
Solar Elongation:
Solar Phase Angle:
Sun-Comet distance (r):
DIF-Comet distance:	(~700 km)

Table 1: Data about image.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD

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