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.
Comet siding spring orbit.
The distance of comet c 2013 a1 siding spring from earth is currently 2 664 565 082 kilometers equivalent to 17 811517 astronomical units.
Nasa s opportunity rover and mars reconnaissance orbiter had their cameras fixated on comet c 2013 a1 siding spring on october 19th 2014.
Its orbital path can be seen in the movie below.
Distance kilometers 2 664 565 082 distance au 17 811517.
The greatest threat would be about 100 minutes after closest approach.
C 2007 q3 siding spring is an oort cloud comet that was discovered by donna burton in 2007 at siding spring observatory in new south wales australia.
The orbit of comet siding spring c 2013 a1 is highly eccentric.
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.
The comet was visible with binoculars until january 2010.
Several spacecraft from nasa europe and india were expected to track the comet s approach from their positions in orbit.
Siding spring came within 1 2 astronomical units of earth and 2 25 au of the sun on october 7 2009.
In 2013 it was thought possible that comet siding spring would create a meteor shower on mars or be a threat to the spacecraft in mars orbit.
Comet siding spring flew about 87 000 miles from mars during the encounter.
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.
The most interesting thing about c 2013 a1 s orbit is that it will come very close to mars on october 19 2014.
Light takes 2 hours 28 minutes and 8 0324 seconds to travel from comet c 2013 a1 siding spring and arrive to us.
C 2013 a1 siding spring classification.