Icy Visitor from Beyond This visitor from deep space, seen here
by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is comet
Hartley 2 -- the destination for NASA's EPOXI mission. The
comet, known officially as 103P/Hartley was discovered fairly
recently, in 1986, by Malcolm Hartley in Siding Spring,
Australia. It probably originated from an icy orbit close to
that of Jupiter's, before something knocked it on a path toward
the sun. The comet circles the sun every 6.46 years -- its
upcoming closest approach to the sun, called perihelion, will
take place on Oct. 28, 2011. EPOXI, which utilizes the already
"in flight" Deep Impact flyby spacecraft, will reach the comet
on Nov. 4. The WISE observations are helping the EPOXI team gain
a more comprehensive picture of the comet's behavior over time.
This image, taken on May 10, 2010, provides the most extensive
look yet at the comet's dusty trail -- a path of particles, sort
of like a trail of crumbs, that the comet leaves during each of
its trips through the inn