103P/Hartley 2 — orbit, source & time explorer

A dated view of a changing orbit

This record uses JPL solution JPL K233/5, with element epoch JD 2457152.5 TDB. Its osculating eccentricity is 0.693598, inclination 13.5995°, and perihelion distance 1.06495 AU. These describe an instantaneous fitted conic; planetary encounters can change the future orbit.

The explorer evaluates a two-body overview at the selected date. A bounded Horizons vector request offers a separate source-calculated path. The two models can disagree, especially during encounters and far from the element epoch.

What the measurements support

Observation arc: 6202 days; observations used: 8768. Orbit condition code: 0. A short observation arc can leave a future path poorly constrained.

Published diameter: 1.6 km. Rotation period: 18.1 hours. Unknown values remain unknown. Generic shape and exaggerated display size are visual aids, not measurements of this object.

Inspect it yourself

Begin with the source epoch, pause the clock, then tilt the camera to inspect the orbital plane. Use Focus or Follow to keep the object in view. For an encounter, switch to Events and load the JPL trajectory instead of interpreting an orbit crossing as a close approach.

This object has a published near-Earth classification. Future paths are predictions from a particular solution. Tuduni does not infer impact probabilities or confidence envelopes from an illustrative curve.

Source & freshness

Fetched 2026-10-22T10:05:58.230Z. Solution date: 2025-05-01 10:45:38 (provider Pacific local time). Earlier orbital versions remain in Tuduni’s source archive after synchronization.

External NASA/JPL reference

NASA/JPL object record (external, new tab) ↗

Understand time scales and accuracy · Explore close approaches