Early results of the observations show that the 103P/Hartley is powered by dry ice, not water vapor as was previously thought.
EPOXI is an extended mission of the Deep Impact spacecraft. Its name is derived from its two tasked science investigations -- the Extrasolar Planet Observation and Characterization (EPOCh) and the Deep Impact Extended Investigation (DIXI). On Nov. 4, 2010, the mission will fly by Hartley 2 using all three of the spacecraft's instruments (two telescopes with digital imagers and an infrared spectrometer).
The University of Maryland, College Park, is the principal investigator institution. JPL manages EPOXI for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The spacecraft was built for NASA by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo.
The comet has passed within 0.121 AU (11.3 million miles or 18 million km) of the Earth on October 20 2010, and perihelion on October 28, 2010 at a distance of 1.059 AU from the Sun.
Here you will find comet ephemeris for December 2010 and a map for search.
Ephemeris of 103P/Hartley
Date UT R.A. (J2000) Decl. Delta r El. Ph. m Sky Motion Constellation
h m s "/min P.A.
2010 12 01 000000 07 38 57.9 -15 32 02 0.286 1.156 120.0 47.6 7.0 0.85 184.6 Pup
2010 12 02 000000 07 38 49.2 -15 51 37 0.291 1.162 120.6 46.9 7.1 0.79 187.6 Pup
2010 12 03 000000 07 38 36.9 -16 09 47 0.297 1.167 121.2 46.3 7.2 0.74 191.0 Pup
2010 12 04 000000 07 38 21.1 -16 26 34 0.302 1.173 121.7 45.6 7.3 0.69 194.6 Pup
2010 12 05 000000 07 38 01.9 -16 42 00 0.307 1.179 122.3 44.9 7.4 0.65 198.6 Pup
2010 12 06 000000 07 37 39.6 -16 56 08 0.313 1.185 122.9 44.3 7.4 0.61 202.9 Pup
2010 12 07 000000 07 37 14.3 -17 08 59 0.318 1.191 123.6 43.6 7.5 0.57 207.6 Pup
2010 12 08 000000 07 36 46.2 -17 20 35 0.323 1.197 124.2 42.9 7.6 0.54 212.6 Pup
2010 12 09 000000 07 36 15.5 -17 30 58 0.329 1.203 124.8 42.2 7.7 0.52 217.9 Pup
2010 12 10 000000 07 35 42.3 -17 40 11 0.334 1.210 125.5 41.5 7.8 0.50 223.5 Pup
2010 12 11 000000 07 35 06.7 -17 48 15 0.339 1.216 126.1 40.9 7.9 0.48 229.3 Pup
2010 12 12 000000 07 34 29.0 -17 55 11 0.345 1.223 126.7 40.2 7.9 0.47 235.3 Pup
2010 12 13 000000 07 33 49.4 -18 01 02 0.350 1.229 127.4 39.5 8.0 0.46 241.2 Pup
2010 12 14 000000 07 33 07.8 -18 05 48 0.356 1.236 128.1 38.8 8.1 0.46 247.1 Pup
2010 12 15 000000 07 32 24.7 -18 09 32 0.362 1.243 128.7 38.2 8.2 0.46 252.9 Pup
2010 12 16 000000 07 31 40.0 -18 12 15 0.367 1.250 129.4 37.5 8.3 0.46 258.4 Pup
2010 12 17 000000 07 30 53.9 -18 13 59 0.373 1.257 130.0 36.8 8.3 0.46 263.6 Pup
2010 12 18 000000 07 30 06.6 -18 14 44 0.379 1.264 130.7 36.2 8.4 0.47 268.6 Pup
2010 12 19 000000 07 29 18.3 -18 14 33 0.384 1.271 131.3 35.5 8.5 0.48 273.2 Pup
2010 12 20 000000 07 28 29.0 -18 13 27 0.390 1.278 132.0 34.9 8.6 0.50 277.5 Pup
2010 12 21 000000 07 27 38.9 -18 11 28 0.396 1.286 132.6 34.3 8.7 0.51 281.5 CMa
2010 12 22 000000 07 26 48.1 -18 08 36 0.402 1.293 133.3 33.6 8.8 0.52 285.2 CMa
2010 12 23 000000 07 25 56.8 -18 04 53 0.408 1.300 133.9 33.0 8.8 0.54 288.6 CMa
2010 12 24 000000 07 25 05.1 -18 00 21 0.414 1.308 134.5 32.4 8.9 0.55 291.8 CMa
2010 12 25 000000 07 24 13.1 -17 55 01 0.420 1.315 135.1 31.8 9.0 0.57 294.8 CMa
2010 12 26 000000 07 23 21.0 -17 48 54 0.427 1.323 135.7 31.2 9.1 0.58 297.6 CMa
2010 12 27 000000 07 22 28.8 -17 42 01 0.433 1.331 136.3 30.7 9.2 0.60 300.3 CMa
2010 12 28 000000 07 21 36.7 -17 34 24 0.439 1.338 136.9 30.1 9.2 0.61 302.7 CMa
2010 12 29 000000 07 20 44.8 -17 26 05 0.446 1.346 137.5 29.6 9.3 0.63 305.1 CMa
2010 12 30 000000 07 19 53.3 -17 17 04 0.453 1.354 138.1 29.0 9.4 0.64 307.4 CMa
2010 12 31 000000 07 19 02.2 -17 07 23 0.459 1.362 138.6 28.5 9.5 0.66 309.5 CMa
Path of 103P/Hartley
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