103P/Hartley 2

Japanese version
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Updated on April 22, 2023

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* Profile

The light curve is strongly asymmetric to the perihelion.

It starts brightening rapidly about half a year before the perihelion passage. It keeps very faint before that. The brightening continues after the perihelion passage, and it becomes brightest about three weeks after the perihelion passage. After the maximum brightness, it fades rapidly for about 100 days. Then the fading pace turns to be slow, and it keeps observable while fading gradually along a 10 log r formula.

Kazuo Kinoshita's calculation revealed that it had been moving along a far orbit with a perihelion distance of 1.6 A.U. until 1965. Now it is in the close and bright period with a perihelion distance of 0.9 - 1.0 A.U. But the perihelion distance will be increased up to 2.0 A.U. again 200 years after now.

* Returns and Appearances

!Discovered *Appeared -Not observed #Appeared before discovery +Not observed before discovery .Returns in the future
* 103P
2023 Oct. 12
* 103P
2017 Apr. 20
* 103P
2010 Oct. 28
* 103P
2004 May 17
* 103P
1997 Dec. 22
* 103P/1991 N1
1991 Sept.11
! 103P/1986 E2
1985 June 4

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The perihelion dates in the past appearances are printed on Catalog of Cometary Orbits 1996.
Information on the discovery and historical highlights are available at General Comet Info (Gary W. Kronk).
The past and future orbital elements calculated by Kazuo Kinoshita (http://www9.ocn.ne.jp/~comet/pcmtn/0103p.htm).

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Copyright(C) Seiichi Yoshida (comet@aerith.net). All rights reserved.