Explanation:
What kind of comet is this?
Last week, NASA's robotic
EPOXI spacecraft
whizzed past
Comet 103P/Hartley,
also known as Comet Hartley 2, and
recorded images
and data that are both strange and fascinating.
EPOXI was near its closest approach -- about 700 kilometers away -- when it snapped the
above picture.
As expected, the comet has indeed
shown itself to be a tumbling iceberg
orbiting the Sun between Earth and Jupiter.
However, unexpected features on the images have raised many questions.
For example, where are all the craters?
Why is there a large smooth area around the middle?
How much of
Comet Hartley 2
is a loose pile
of dust and ice shards?
Future analyses and comparisons to
other comet
nuclei may answer some of these questions and, hopefully, lead to a better general understanding of comets, meteors, and the
early Solar System.
Follow APOD on Facebook
