University of Hawaii

Comets are remnants of the planet building process early in our solar system, and one of the key drivers of comet investigations is to get a glimpse into the physics and chemistry of this era.  Comets which have not been heated significantly since formation hold the best promise for yielding information about the planet formation processes.  Observations of long-period and dynamically new comets making their first trip  through the inner solar system observed at heliocentric distances between 5 to 30 AU show that they are active well beyond  the distance at which water ice sublimation can be significant.  Models and lab experiments will be presented to place the observations in the context of the early solar system physical and chemical conditions.  Observations of the EPOXI target, comet 103P/Hartley 2, a Jupiter-family comet which may have been recently injected into the inner solar system will be discussed in the context of the distant comet activity.  Surveys such as SEPPCon, WISE, Akari and the Pan STARRS 1 survey and the role the combined observations play in understanding comet activity will be presented.