A rare encounter between a comet and Mars.
A comet will fly past Mars this weekend at a distance more than 10 times closer than any comet has ever come near Earth.
Comet C/2013 A1, also known as Siding Spring, will fly past Mars this weekend (October 19th) at an extremely close distance of 139,500 km, less than half the distance from Earth to the Moon.
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| The comet will approach Mars this Sunday (October 19). Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech. |
Science Daily reports that Comet Siding Spring will make its closest approach to Mars at 11:27 AM PDT (1:30 AM on October 20th, Hanoi time) at a speed of approximately 56 km/s. This is an opportunity for astronomy enthusiasts and scientists alike to learn more about the comet and its impact on the Martian atmosphere.
Siding springs originate from the Oort cloud, a spherical region of space around the sun at a distance of 50,000 to 100,000 astronomical units, containing icy objects left over from the formation of the solar system.
It will be the first comet from the Oort cloud to be studied up close by NASA spacecraft operating near Mars. Scientists now have an invaluable opportunity to learn more about the materials, including carbon and water compounds, that existed during the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago.
Many large telescopes on Earth and in space, including the Hubble Telescope, the Kepler Observatory, Swift, Spitzer, Chandra, and the infrared telescope at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, will be used to monitor this event.
According to VnExpress.
