Comet Siding Spring Buzzes Mars

25 700 mi from the center of mars.

Comet siding spring buzzes mars. Comet siding spring s close encounter with the fleet of orbiters and rovers at mars is expected to give scientists their most detailed look yet at an object from the oort cloud. On that date comet 2013 a1 siding spring will buzz mars about 10 times closer than any identified comet has ever flown past earth. Comet siding spring will approach within 86 000 miles 138 000 kilometers of mars on oct. But the dust shed by the comet.

Hubble images show comet siding spring has passed the snow and water lines the points at which the sun s warmth activates or releases gases and water ice to form the coma and tail. 19 comet c 2013 a1 comet siding spring will pass within about 87 000 miles 139 500 km of mars. In october comet siding spring will buzz mars at 125 000 miles per hour and close enough for the comet s tail of gas and dust to envelop the planet. 86 500 mi from the center point of mars and the uncertainty region shows.

Comet siding spring passed extremely close to mars on 19 october 2014 at 18 28 0 01 utc. With an observation arc of 733 days the nominal pass is 0 000931 au 139 300 km. By kiona smith strickland jul 30 2014. 19 potentially putting on a good show for nasa s red planet spacecraft.

Comet siding spring s dust tail will completely engulf the entire planet when mars travels through it. In a rare cosmic close encounter the comet siding spring whizzed past mars at a distance of 139 500 kilometres just more than one third of the distance from earth to the moon on 19 october. Spacecraft at mars might get a good look at the nucleus of comet. Comet siding spring s mars buzz animated take a close look at how comet siding spring will make its historic flyby of mars on oct.