Schematic of Comet C/2017 K2’s Approach to the Solar System (No Annotation)

Distant Active Comet C/2017 K2

Hubble Uncovers the Farthest Active Inbound Comet Yet Seen This Hubble Space Telescope image shows a fuzzy cloud of dust, called a coma, surrounding the comet C/2017 K2 PANSTARRS (K2), the farthest active comet ever observed entering the solar system. Hubble snapped images of...

Compass Image for Comet C/2017 K2

Schematic of Comet C/2017 K2's Approach to the Solar System

Comet K2's Orbit This illustration shows the orbit of comet C/2017 K2 PANSTARRS (K2) on its maiden voyage into the solar system. The Hubble Space Telescope observed K2 when it was 1.5 billion miles from the Sun, halfway between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus. The observations...

Hubble Uncovers the Farthest Active Inbound Comet Yet Seen

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope observed the farthest-discovered active inbound comet, Comet K2. K2 came from the distant Oort Cloud and is visiting our inner solar system for the first (and only) time. Since we’re seeing it so far away, past the orbit of Saturn, K2 is still in...