UPDATE OCTOBER 18, 2014. Hurtling through space at about 35 miles (56 kilometers) per second, Comet Siding Spring (C/2013 A1) will sweep very close to the planet Mars this weekend. It will be less than one-tenth the distance of any known previous earthly comet flyby on October 19 at 18:28 UTC. Although a direct collision with Mars is not expected, the comet’s nucleus is expected to come within 82,000 miles (132,000 kilometers) of Mars, or about one-third the moon’s distance from Earth. The closest comet to swing by Earth in recorded history was Lexell’s Comet, at six times the moon’s distance from Earth (6 x 384,400 kilometers or 238,855 miles) in the year 1770. earthsky.org/space/comet-c2013-a1-siding-spring-mars-encounter-october-19-2014
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 09:45:23 +0000
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