Comet Siding Spring Mars Encounter

This sunday october 19 mars will have a close encounter with comet siding spring.

Comet siding spring mars encounter. Just weeks before the historic encounter of comet c 2013 a1 siding spring with mars in october 2014 nasa s mars atmosphere and volatile evolution maven spacecraft entered orbit around the red planet. One thing we know for certain is that the. While comet siding spring also called comet c 2013 a1 isn t easy to spot from earth a couple different astronomy organizations will be tracking the comet as it flies 87 000 miles 139 500. This map shows the sky facing southwest at nightfall from.

Watch over the coming nights as they draw ever closer. A once in a million years cosmic event will grace the heavens this weekend when a comet is expected to have a close encounter with mars. The paths of mars and comet siding spring are clearly on a near collision course. Comet siding spring also known as c 2013 a1 will be approximately 82 000 miles away from mars at its closest approach.

Mars and comet siding spring were visible to the stereo a spacecraft during the 2014 encounter. Artist s concept of comet c 2013 a1 siding spring heading toward mars. In orbit around mars were the spacecraft mars reconnaissance orbiter 2001 mars odyssey esa s mars express maven and the indian mars orbiter mission mangalyaan. 19 at a distance of approximately 87 000 miles.

And by close i mean close. Fritz helmut hemmerich made this video from 1200 meters at tenerife in the canary islands showing comet siding spring immediately after its mars encounter.