Comet Siding Spring Update

This sunday 19 oct.

Comet siding spring update.

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. Right on time for today s encounter the folks at. C 2013 a1 siding spring is an oort cloud comet discovered on 3 january 2013 by robert h. Mcnaught at siding spring observatory using the 0 5 meter 20 in uppsala southern schmidt telescope.

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. 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. At the time of its discovery comet siding spring was farther from the sun than jupiter about 7 2 times farther away from the sun than earth. This means that the gas cloud surrounding the comet will effectively envelop mars while it passes by at 56 km s 125 000 mph.

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. 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.