Comet Siding Spring Mars Impact

While earth awaits comet ison the red planet awaits a comet called siding spring.

Comet siding spring mars impact.

When the comet was first discovered astronomers. 19 comet c 2013 a1 also known as comet siding spring will pass within about 87 000 miles 139 500 kilometers of the red planet less than half the distance between earth and our moon and less than one tenth the distance of any known comet flyby of earth. This possibility is not the likely outcome of siding spring s passage but it cannot be ruled out. 7 will provide initial science observations of comet c 2013 a1 siding spring s close flyby of mars and the impact on the martian atmosphere.

A nasa media telecon on friday nov. Until that event no one had seen a comet impact a planet. Siding spring s nucleus will come closest to mars around 11 27 a m. There is the possibility that siding spring will graze or even hit mars in a deep catastrophic impact.

Astrophotographer damian peach shares this spectacular image of comet c 2013 a1 siding spring approaching mars taken just hours ago. The comet siding spring c 2013 a1 is seen near mars on oct. Edt hurtling at about 126 000 mph 56 kilometers per second.