Comet Siding Spring

• by Alpha_Aurigae

  For those who are interested in Comet Siding Spring's Mars flyby this weekend I am going to post some links here:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2013_A1

  http://mars.nasa.gov/comets/sidingspring/

  http://earthsky.org/space/comet-c2013-a1-siding-spring-mars-encounter-october-19-2014

  http://blogs.esa.int/mex/category/comet-siding-spring/

  Posted October 16, 2014 1:25 PM

• by Budgieye moderator

  I wonder how big and bright it will be in the robot cameras.

  Posted October 17, 2014 9:41 AM

• by Alpha_Aurigae

  Me too 😃

  Posted October 17, 2014 2:06 PM

• by Capella05 moderator

  When will the flyby be happening?

  Whenever something exciting happens astronomy wise I always seem to be busy! 😃

  Posted October 17, 2014 2:48 PM

• by Alpha_Aurigae

  Sunday, October 19th

  Posted October 17, 2014 3:00 PM

• by Capella05 moderator in response to Alpha Aurigae's comment.

  Excellent - I might be able to catch it 😃

  Posted October 17, 2014 3:07 PM

• by Budgieye moderator

  It seems it will be mag -6 in the skies of Mars, so a bit brighter than what Venus looks like, so the Mars rovers and orbiter should be able to see it.

  Here, it will be mag 11 so would need a reasonable sized telescope, and very low down and in the sunset for northern observers.

  Posted October 17, 2014 3:27 PM

• by Alpha_Aurigae

  Countdown 😃

  http://www.livecometdata.com/comets/c2013-a1-siding-spring/

  Posted October 17, 2014 10:00 PM

• by ElisabethB moderator

  Very exciting ! I so hope one of the Mars robots will get an amazing pic !

  Posted October 17, 2014 10:22 PM

• by Alpha_Aurigae

  I hope so too 😃

  Posted October 17, 2014 10:26 PM

• by Alpha_Aurigae

  http://www.universetoday.com/115403/heres-a-look-at-comet-siding-spring-two-days-before-its-encounter-with-mars/

  Posted October 18, 2014 10:09 AM

• by Budgieye moderator

  Closest approach. 18:27 GMT 17:27 Greenwich Summer Time 2:27 p.m. EDT on Sunday (Oct. 19)

  at night-time for Asia and Australia, dinner time for Europe and Africa, brunchtime for Americas.

  http://www.space.com/ has NASA live TV http://www.space.com/17933-nasa-television-webcasts-live-space-tv.html

  There are 6 cameras in place around Mars.

  NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter http://www.space.com/13962-photos-nasa-mars-reconnaissance-orbiter.html

  NASA newly arrived MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) probe will watch from Mars orbit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/maven/main/index.html#.VENJJ7DF-So

  India's Mangalyaan spacecraft

  European Space Agency Mars Express

  NASA's Curiosity and Opportunity rovers will point their cameras skyward from the Red Planet's surface.

  

  Posted October 19, 2014 6:07 AM

• by Budgieye moderator

  NASA says cleaned images will not be available for 2-4 days. 😦

  Posted October 19, 2014 1:33 PM

• by Alpha_Aurigae

  http://time.com/3522449/see-comet-siding-spring-mars-live-stream/

  http://www.space.com/17933-nasa-television-webcasts-live-space-tv.html

  Posted October 19, 2014 6:11 PM

• by Alpha_Aurigae

  http://www.universetoday.com/115437/astrophotographer-captures-dramatic-photo-of-comet-siding-spring-approaching-mars/

  Posted October 19, 2014 6:11 PM

• by Alpha_Aurigae

  Closest approach 87.461 miles

  Let's hope we get some great images this week 😃

  Posted October 19, 2014 8:28 PM

• by Alpha_Aurigae

  Image from the Mars Rover Opportunity:

  http://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/?ImageID=6681

  The same image pus one from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter:

  http://earthsky.org/space/comet-siding-spring-sweeps-past-mars

  Posted October 22, 2014 2:04 PM

• by Budgieye moderator

  I suppose the rover cameras were not designed for night images.

  Posted October 22, 2014 10:13 PM

• by DZM admin

  The photo from the EarthSky article is gorgeous!

  

  Posted October 24, 2014 4:55 PM

• by ElisabethB moderator in response to DZM's comment.

  Oh WOW, that is an amazing pic 😄

  Posted October 24, 2014 5:51 PM

• by Budgieye moderator

  Hubble Space Telescope took two images and sewed them together. It could only look at one images at a time, because both objects move at different speeds and had different brightness. The cloud of particles is much bigger than Mars.

  

  https://www.facebook.com/NASA/photos/a.67899501771.69169.54971236771/10152762096501772/?type=1

  Posted October 25, 2014 9:16 AM