Comet Siding Spring View From Mars

On that date the comet passed by mars at approximately 87 000 miles about one third the distance between earth and the moon.

Comet siding spring view from mars.

In the animation the comet moves across the image from right to left above the brightest streak. In the still image comet siding spring is visible as a faint smear just above and to the right of the brightest streak. Comet siding spring seen next to mars. Siding spring s nucleus will come closest to mars around 11 27 a m.

Edt october 19 2014. Nasa s hubble space telescope has produced a unique composite image of comet siding spring as it made its never before seen close passage of a comet by mars. 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. This composite 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.

Several spacecraft from nasa europe and india were expected to track the comet s approach from their positions in orbit.