The Ongoing Decline in Activity of Comet 103P/Hartley 2

Abstract

We report photometric observations of Comet 103P/Hartley 2 during its 2023 apparition. Our campaign, conducted from August through December 2023, combined data from a global network of citizen astronomers coordinated by Unistellar and the Association Fran\c{c}aise d'Astronomie. Photometry was derived using an automated pipeline for eVscope observations in partnership with the SETI Institute and aperture photometry via AstroLab Stellar. We find that the comet's peak reduced brightness, measured at $G_{\rm min} = 10.24 \pm 0.47$, continues a long-term fading trend since 1991. The decline in activity follows a per-apparition minimum magnitude increase of $\Delta G_{\rm min} = 0.59 \pm 0.11$ mag, corresponding to an approximately $42\%$ reduction in brightness each return. This trend implies that the comet's active fraction has declined by about an order of magnitude since 1991 and may indicate that Hartley 2 is no longer hyperactive by definition. The fading is consistent with progressive volatile depletion rather than orbital effects. These results offer insight into the evolutionary processes shaping Jupiter-family comets.