{"id":9095,"date":"2014-10-23T15:38:29","date_gmt":"2014-10-23T19:38:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9095"},"modified":"2014-10-23T15:38:29","modified_gmt":"2014-10-23T19:38:29","slug":"comet-siding-spring-flew-by-mars-and-watched-by-orbiters-and-rovers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9095","title":{"rendered":"Comet Siding Spring flew by Mars and watched by orbiters and rovers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The orbiters circling Mars <a href=\"http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/news\/whatsnew\/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&amp;NewsID=1737\" target=\"_blank\">survived<\/a> the <a href=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9059\" target=\"_blank\">fly-by of Comet Siding Spring<\/a> last Sunday just fine. The NASA JPL site\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/comets\/sidingspring\/\" target=\"_d\">Comets: Siding Spring (C\/2013 A1)<\/a>\u00a0has lots of images and reports about the event. For example,<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/news\/whatsnew\/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&amp;NewsID=1738\" target=\"_d\">NASA Rover Opportunity Views Comet Near Mars<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/multimedia\/images\/?ImageID=6677\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/images\/Comet-Siding-Spring-Mars-Exploration-Rovers-Opportunity-Observation-Pancam-annotated-long-PIA18591-br2.jpg\" alt=\"Mars Rover Opportunity's View of Passing Comet\" width=\"500\" align=\"absmiddle\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" vspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/multimedia\/images\/?ImageID=6677\" target=\"_blank\">Mars Rover Opportunity&#8217;s View of Passing Comet<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Researchers used the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA&#8217;s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity to capture this view of comet C\/2013 A1 Siding Spring as it passed near Mars on Oct. 19, 2014. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/Cornell Univ.\/ASU\/TAMU<\/em><\/p>\n<p>NASA&#8217;s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured images of a comet passing much closer to Mars than any previous known comet flyby of Earth or Mars. The images of comet Siding Spring were taken against a backdrop of the pre-dawn Martian sky on Sunday (Oct. 19).<\/p>\n<p>Images of comet A1 Siding Spring from the rover&#8217;s panoramic camera (Pancam) are online at:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/multimedia\/images\/?ImageID=6677\">http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/multimedia\/images\/?ImageID=6677<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/multimedia\/images\/?ImageID=6679\">http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/multimedia\/images\/?ImageID=6679<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/multimedia\/images\/?ImageID=6681\">http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/multimedia\/images\/?ImageID=6681<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Researchers used Opportunity&#8217;s Pancam to image at a range of exposure times about two-and-one-half hours before the closest approach of the nucleus of comet Siding Spring to Mars. By the time of closest approach at about 87,000 miles (139,500 kilometers), dawn had lit the sky above Opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s excitingly fortunate that this comet came so close to Mars to give us a chance to study it with the instruments we&#8217;re using to study Mars,&#8221; said Opportunity science team member Mark Lemmon of Texas A&amp;M University, who coordinated the camera pointing. &#8220;The views from Mars rovers, in particular, give us a human perspective, because they are about as sensitive to light as our eyes would be.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Three NASA Mars orbiters, two Mars rovers and other assets on Earth and in space are studying comet Siding Spring. This comet is making its first visit this close to the sun from the outer solar system&#8217;s Oort Cloud, so the concerted campaign of observations may yield fresh clues to our solar system&#8217;s earliest days more than 4 billion years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Opportunity has been roving on Mars since January 2004 and has provided evidence about the Red Planet&#8217;s ancient wet environments.<\/p>\n<p>For more about Opportunity, visit:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/rovers\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/rovers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/mer\/\">http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/mer\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li>For more about comet Siding Spring, visit:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/comets\/sidingspring\/\">http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/comets\/sidingspring\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>===<\/p>\n<p>The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter capture images of the comet as well:<\/p>\n<p class=\"title\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Mars Orbiter Image Shows Comet Nucleus is Small<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"captionText\" href=\"http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/multimedia\/images\/?ImageID=6682\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/images\/Comet-Siding-Spring-Mars-MRO-Orbiter-View-HiRISE-PIA18618-br2.jpg\" alt=\"First Resolved Image of a Long-Period Comet's Nucleus\" width=\"500\" align=\"absmiddle\" border=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" vspace=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/multimedia\/images\/?ImageID=6682\" target=\"_blank\">First Resolved Image of a Long-Period Comet&#8217;s Nucleus<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>These images were taken of comet C\/2013 A1 Siding Spring by NASA&#8217;s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Oct. 19, 2014, during the comet&#8217;s close flyby of Mars and the spacecraft. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/University of Arizona<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA&#8217;s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured views of comet C\/2013 A1 Siding Spring while that visitor sped past Mars on Sunday (Oct. 19), yielding information about its nucleus.<\/p>\n<p>The images are the highest-resolution views ever acquired of a comet coming from the Oort Cloud at the fringes of the solar system. Other spacecraft have approached and studied comets with shorter orbits. This comet&#8217;s flyby of Mars provided spacecraft at the Red Planet an opportunity to investigate from close range.<\/p>\n<p>Images of comet Siding Spring from HiRISE are online at:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/multimedia\/images\/?ImageID=6682\">http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/multimedia\/images\/?ImageID=6682<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The highest-resolution of images of the comet&#8217;s nucleus, taken from a distance of about 86,000 miles (138,000 kilometers), have a scale of about 150 yards (138 meters) per pixel. Telescopic observers had modeled the size of the nucleus as about half a mile, or one kilometer wide. However, the best HiRISE images show only two to three pixels across the brightest feature, probably the nucleus, suggesting a size smaller than half that estimate.<\/p>\n<p>For more about HiRISE, visit:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/hirise.lpl.arizona.edu\/\">http:\/\/hirise.lpl.arizona.edu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For more about Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, visit:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/mro\/\">http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/mro\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>===<\/p>\n<p>NASA released a composite image showing the comet and the Red Planet together without under or over-exposing either:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/press\/2014\/october\/close-encounters-comet-siding-spring-seen-next-to-mars\/index.html\" target=\"_d\">Close Encounters: Comet Siding Spring Seen Next to Mars<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/comet_springs_0.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"9096\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=9096\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/comet_springs_01.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1167,876\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"comet_springs_0[1]\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/comet_springs_01-1024x768.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-9096\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/comet_springs_01-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"comet_springs_0[1]\" width=\"520\" height=\"390\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/comet_springs_01-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/comet_springs_01-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/comet_springs_01.jpg 1167w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>This composite NASA Hubble Space Telescope Image captures the positions of comet Siding Spring and Mars in a never-before-seen close passage of a comet by the Red Planet, which happened at 2:28 p.m. EDT October 19, 2014. [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/comet_springs_0.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">Larger image<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This composite NASA Hubble Space Telescope Image captures the positions of comet Siding Spring and Mars in a never-before-seen close passage of a comet by the Red Planet, which happened at 2:28 p.m. EDT October 19, 2014. The comet passed by Mars at approximately 87,000 miles (about one-third of the distance between Earth and the Moon). At that time, the comet and Mars were approximately 149 million miles from Earth.<\/p>\n<p>The comet image shown here is a composite of Hubble exposures taken between Oct. 18, 8:06 a.m. EDT to Oct. 19, 11:17 p.m. EDT. Hubble took a separate photograph of Mars at 10:37 p.m. EDT on Oct. 18.<\/p>\n<p>The Mars and comet images have been added together to create a single picture to illustrate the angular separation, or distance, between the comet and Mars at closest approach. The separation is approximately 1.5 arc minutes, or one-twentieth of the angular diameter of the full Moon. The background starfield in this composite image is synthesized from ground-based telescope data provided by the Palomar Digital Sky Survey, which has been reprocessed to approximate Hubble\u2019s resolution. The solid icy comet nucleus is too small to be resolved in the Hubble picture. The comet\u2019s bright coma, a diffuse cloud of dust enshrouding the nucleus, and a dusty tail, are clearly visible.<\/p>\n<p>This is a composite image because a single exposure of the stellar background, comet Siding Spring, and Mars would be problematic. Mars is actually 10,000 times brighter than the comet, and so could not be properly exposed to show detail in the Red Planet. The comet and Mars were also moving with respect to each other and so could not be imaged simultaneously in one exposure without one of the objects being motion blurred. Hubble had to be programmed to track on the comet and Mars separately in two different observations.<\/p>\n<p>The images were taken with Hubble\u2019s Wide Field Camera 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The orbiters circling Mars survived the fly-by of Comet Siding Spring last Sunday just fine. The NASA JPL site\u00a0Comets: Siding Spring (C\/2013 A1)\u00a0has lots of images and reports about the event. For example, NASA Rover Opportunity Views Comet Near Mars Mars Rover Opportunity&#8217;s View of Passing Comet Researchers used the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA&#8217;s &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9095\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Comet Siding Spring flew by Mars and watched by orbiters and rovers<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,12,78],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asteroids","category-astronomy","category-mars"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-2mH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8841,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8841","url_meta":{"origin":9095,"position":0},"title":"Comet flyby of Mars unlikely to damage orbiters","author":"TopSpacer","date":"September 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Looks like the pass of the comet Siding Spring by Mars on October 19th will not in fact bring along\u00a0a dust cloud of fast moving particles thick enough to damage the spacecraft orbiting the planet: By the middle of this summer, published estimates (based on new images and additional modelling)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Asteroids &amp; Comets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Asteroids &amp; Comets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=75"},"img":{"alt_text":"Comet C\/2013 A1 Siding Spring seen on 6 September 2014 from Argentina. Image credit: C\u00e9sar Nicol\u00e1s Fornari https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cesar.fornari","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.esa.int\/mex\/files\/2014\/09\/10700554_10202486037695810_296318930239001780_o-1024x633.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.esa.int\/mex\/files\/2014\/09\/10700554_10202486037695810_296318930239001780_o-1024x633.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.esa.int\/mex\/files\/2014\/09\/10700554_10202486037695810_296318930239001780_o-1024x633.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8417,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8417","url_meta":{"origin":9095,"position":1},"title":"NASA Mars orbiters prepare for comet passing close by","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Quite possible that someday a comet will pass near earth. (If it is headed into earth, there will be little we can do about it in time unless we have a sophisticated in-space infrastructure in place.) NASA\u2019s Mars Spacecraft Maneuvers to Prepare for Close Comet Flyby NASA is taking steps\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Asteroids &amp; Comets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Asteroids &amp; Comets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=75"},"img":{"alt_text":"This graphic depicts the orbit of comet C\/2013 A1 Siding Spring as it swings around the sun in 2014. On Oct. 19, the comet will have a very close pass at Mars. Its nucleus will miss Mars by about 82,000 miles (132,000 kilometers). The comet's trail of dust particles shed by the nucleus might be wide enough to reach Mars or might also miss it. For more information about this comet, see http:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/comets\/sidingspring\/.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/673xvariable_height\/public\/main_sidingspring_version07b-01_2.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9059,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9059","url_meta":{"origin":9095,"position":2},"title":"Comet Siding Spring passing close by Mars","author":"TopSpacer","date":"October 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The comet Siding Spring is just about to reach its closest approach to Mars. Below\u00a0are links to various sites with info and imagery: Comet Siding Spring (C\/2013 A1)\u00a0 Comet Siding Spring (C\/2013 A1) is racing toward Mars for a close encounter on October 19, 2014. *\u00a0Latest NASA news and images:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Asteroids &amp; Comets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Asteroids &amp; Comets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=75"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/466x248\/public\/comet-siding-spring-trajectory-mars-full_0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9129,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9129","url_meta":{"origin":9095,"position":3},"title":"Video: Siding Spring and other comet-planet encounters","author":"TopSpacer","date":"October 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A SETI Institute\u00a0discussion of the Comet Siding Springs fly-by of\u00a0Mars and other comet encounters: http:\/\/youtu.be\/4Pem1iymC2M","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Asteroids &amp; Comets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Asteroids &amp; Comets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=75"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/4Pem1iymC2M\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9015,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9015","url_meta":{"origin":9095,"position":4},"title":"Video: A preview of Comet Siding Spring&#8217;s fly-by of Mars","author":"TopSpacer","date":"October 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Astronomer\u00a0Bruce Betts of\u00a0the Planetary Society\u00a0lays out\u00a0all the basics about Comet Siding Spring, which on October 19, 2014 will\u00a0make a close fly-by of\u00a0Mars. http:\/\/youtu.be\/AwMjoy_02Ic","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Asteroids &amp; Comets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Asteroids &amp; Comets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=75"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/AwMjoy_02Ic\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1032,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=1032","url_meta":{"origin":9095,"position":5},"title":"The Comet threat to Mars + Stopping a comet heading for Earth +  2013 Planetary Defense Conference","author":"TopSpacer","date":"March 9, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Alan Boyle writes about the possibility that Comet 2013 A1 (aka Comet Siding Spring) might hit Mars and how this might affect attitudes on earth about the threat of comet and asteroid impacts on earth: 'Marsageddon' comet scenario adds to concerns about threats from space - Cosmic Log. He also\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;In Space Infrastructure&quot;","block_context":{"text":"In Space Infrastructure","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=15"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9095"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9097,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9095\/revisions\/9097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}