Comet Siding Spring Update

Comet siding spring whizzes past mars update by jenny vaughan.

Comet siding spring update.

19 at a distance of approximately 87 000 miles. Hurtling through space at about 35 miles 56 kilometers per second comet siding spring c 2013 a1 will sweep very close to the planet mars today. Mcnaught at siding spring observatory using the 0 5 meter 20 in uppsala southern schmidt telescope. The latest trajectory of comet 2013 a1 siding spring generated by the near earth object program office at nasa s jet propulsion laboratory in pasadena calif indicates the comet will pass within 186 000 miles 300 000 kilometers of mars and there is a strong possibility that it might pass much closer.

At the time of discovery it was 7 2 au from the sun and located in the constellation lepus comet c 2013 a1 probably took millions of years to come from the oort cloud. Nasa s extensive fleet of science assets particularly those orbiting and roving mars have front row seats to image and study this once in a lifetime flyby. Mcnaught achieved this triumph on january 3 2013 using the 0 5 meter 20 inch uppsala schmidt telescope at siding spring observatory in new south wales australia. An illustration by nasa depicts the comet siding spring 2013 a1 traveling toward mars a comet the size of a small mountain and.

Update october 18 2014. Siding spring officially designated comet c 2013 a1 made its closest approach to mars at 2 28 p m. 19 comet c 2013 a1 comet siding spring will pass within about 87 000 miles 139 500 km of mars. Comet buzzes mars in once in a lifetime flyby the comet siding spring has successfully zoomed by mars in a super rare close encounter that is one for the history books.