Comet Siding Spring Orbit

C 2013 a1 is an oort cloud comet discovered on 3 january 2013 by robert h.

Comet siding spring orbit.

19 2014 the nucleus of comet c 2013 a1 siding spring missed mars by about one third of the distance between earth and earth s moon or one tenth the distance at which any identified comet has flown past earth. To further refine the comet s orbit. This comet sneaked up on us because it was coming in from underneath the plane of earth s orbit. Siding spring came within 1 2 astronomical units of earth and 2 25 au of the sun on october 7 2009.

Images of the comet taken in march 2010 by n howes using the faulkes telescope. Based on data through april 7 2013 the latest orbital plot places the comet s closest approach to mars slightly closer than previous estimates at about 68 000 miles 110 000 kilometers. C 2013 a1 passed the planet. The most interesting thing about c 2013 a1 s orbit is that it will come very close to mars on october 19 2014.

Comet siding spring flew about 87 000 miles from mars during the encounter. Distance kilometers 2 670 189 521 distance au 17 849114. At the time of its discovery comet siding spring was farther from the sun than jupiter. Comet c 2013 a1 probably took millions of years to come from the oort cloud.

Its orbital path can be seen in the movie below. The distance of comet c 2013 a1 siding spring from earth is currently 2 670 189 521 kilometers equivalent to 17 849114 astronomical units. Mcnaught at siding spring observatory using the 0 5 meter uppsala southern schmidt telescope. The orbit of comet siding spring c 2013 a1 is highly eccentric.

It spends the vast majority of its life in the oort cloud. 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. At the time of discovery it was 7 2 au from the sun and located in the constellation lepus. That presented a unique science opportunity for the five orbiting spacecraft and two rovers at the red planet.

Light takes 2 hours 28 minutes and 26 7935 seconds to travel from comet c 2013 a1 siding spring and arrive to us. After leaving the planetary region of the solar system the post perihelion orbital period is estimated to be roughly 1 million years. The comet was visible with binoculars until january 2010. Luckily asteroid and comet hunter robert h.

Mcnaught spotted it with the constellation lepus in the star background. Several spacecraft from nasa europe and india were expected to track the comet s approach from their positions in orbit. New observations of comet c 2013 a1 siding spring have allowed nasa s near earth object office at the jet propulsion laboratory in pasadena calif. A close encounter between mars and comet c 2013 a1 siding spring in 2014 is creating both opportunity and anxiety in scientific circles.