Comet Siding Spring Mars Impact

Edt hurtling at about 126 000 mph 56 kilometers per second.

Comet siding spring mars impact.

There is the possibility that siding spring will graze or even hit mars in a deep catastrophic impact. 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. While earth awaits comet ison the red planet awaits a comet called siding spring. Astrophotographer damian peach shares this spectacular image of comet c 2013 a1 siding spring approaching mars taken just hours ago.

This possibility is not the likely outcome of siding spring s passage but it cannot be ruled out. The faint comet shows a small condensed coma and bent tail. 19 2014 by a telescope with the slooh community observatory during a rare flyby that scientists called a once in a lifetime event. A nasa media telecon on friday nov.

Until that event no one had seen a comet impact a planet. The comet siding spring c 2013 a1 is seen near mars on oct. Siding spring s nucleus will come closest to mars around 11 27 a m.