Could Comet C/2013 A1 impact Mars in 2014?

[SpaceEagle]

Well, were little less that one month until Possible impact!

 

[Izack]

Well, were little less that one month until Possible impact!

I would use the word "possible" with some trepidation here...

 

[perseus]

Comet to Mars C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring)

C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) is an Oort cloud comet discovered on 3 January 2013 by Robert H. McNaught at Siding Spring Observatory using the 0.5-meter (20 in) Uppsala Southern Schmidt Telescope.[ At the time of discovery it was 7.2 AU from the Sun and located in the constellation Lepus. Comet C/2013 A1 probably took millions of years to come from the Oort cloud. After leaving the planetary region of the Solar System, the post-perihelion orbital period (epoch 2050) is estimated to be roughly 1 million years. Precovery images by the Catalina Sky Survey from 8 December 2012 were quickly found. On 3 March 2013, Pan-STARRS precovery images from 4 October 2012 were announced that extended the observation arc to 148 days.

NASA is taking steps to protect its Mars orbiters, preserving opportunity to collect valuable scientific data, as the Comet C / 2013 A1 Siding Spring is dirge to a flyby of Mars on October 19.

The nucleus of the comet will pass about 132.000 km altitude above Mars, sending material to a speed of 56 kilometers per second relative to Mars and spacecraft orbiting Mars. At that speed, even the smallest particle - estimated at half a millimeter in diameter - could cause significant damage to a spacecraft.

Currently operates two NASA Mars orbiters with third MAVEN spacecraft, the flyby of the comet. Equipment operating orbiters plan to have all buildings located on the opposite side of Mars when it is more likely to pass by the comet.

 

[perseus]

Martians dinosaurs is recommended, if any, do not leave the house October 19., just in case .... :rofl:

 

[RisingFury]

I really wish we get to see a comet or asteroid hit Mars at a high velocity. I'd love to see the devastation.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

I really wish we get to see a comet or asteroid hit Mars at a high velocity. I'd love to see the devastation.

I think it would be a very good wake up call for humanity.

"Oh, so that's what lurks in the depths of space, waiting to hit us. Holy !"

 

[perseus]

I think it would be a very good wake up call for humanity.

It would need a vehicle large delta V, like the Hiperion ship, able to destroy or deflect the asteroid or comet.

I really wish we get to see a comet or asteroid hit Mars at a high velocity. I'd love to see the devastation.

Imagine permafrost ice cover, this flowing rivers and lakes forming before boil and evaporate, and release the CO2 to atmosphere.

An atmosphere of steam, to create a greenhouse effec and warming of Mars, after water vapor decomposes water into oxygen and hydrogen, hydrogen escape by the push of radiation in the upper atmosphere.

Leaving to form the oxygen, which oxidizes all, but can form ozone, and that enables chemical reactions high metabolism, would like to relive the historic past of Mars ...

 

[Cairan]

The volume of water in a single comet would not be enough to have liquid water on Mars, however, the cloud cover would increase dramatically as it's atmosphere would get saturated... Perpetual fog of war for our remaining lifetime. (Mars, God of War, get it ? )

---------- Post added at 07:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:27 PM ----------

Thinking about it, that's a nice paper I could work on... Take the volume of water in this comet, calculate the absolute humidity the atmosphere of Mars could handle, and determine if it would get saturated globally or zonally...

---------- Post added at 07:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:29 PM ----------

Oh and Perseus, nice photoshop of Skógarfoss ... I spent a year in Iceland back in 2005-2006 studying glaciology and volcanology...

 

[SpaceEagle]

Does someone know the precise date and time for flyby/possible impact?
Now it's October. Can't wait to see MRO pictures of that snowball

 

[NukeET]

Here is 2 screenshots and a scenario for C/2013 A1. I used Joffrey's asteroid from this [ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=5909"]add-on[/ame] as the comet.


JPL Horizon prediction as of 10/10/2014 - PeA with 733 day observation arc.

With labels:

Scenario:

BEGIN_DESC
Comet C/2013 A1 predicted to come REALLY REALLY CLOSE to Mars in 2014



 Scenario start time is 10/17/2014 at 18:00:00 UT (about T-48 hrs to closest approach)
 
 

PeA with 733 day observation arc.


JPL Horizon prediction as of 10/10/2014



Recommended Camera distance from "comet": 210.3



Recommended simulation speed: 1000x to start, then downshift to 100x.


END_DESC

BEGIN_ENVIRONMENT
  System Sol
  Date MJD  56947.75
END_ENVIRONMENT

BEGIN_FOCUS
  Ship C2013_A1
END_FOCUS

BEGIN_CAMERA
  TARGET C2013_A1
  MODE Extern
  POS 7.05 102.12 30.19
  TRACKMODE GlobalFrame
  FOV 35.00
END_CAMERA

BEGIN_SHIPS
C2013_A1:Asteroids\2008 EA9
  STATUS Orbiting Sun
  RPOS  115538943624.789 -11169341650.8627 -174871831759.97
  RVEL -18962.7897669121  27629.1190338066 -11924.1820359124
  AROT 0.00 -0.00 0.00
  AFCMODE 7
END
END_SHIPS

BEGIN_ExtMFD
END

BEGIN_VistaBoost
END

 

[RGClark]

The comet set to buzz Mars on Sunday, Oct. 19th may cause small meteorite impacts to Mars from its tail. Depending on the scale and number of impacts you could have one within driving range of Opportunity or MSL rovers. This is important because some imaging by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter observed recent impact craters suggesting ice within just a few feet of Mars surface. Then the heat of impact could make this ice liquid for a short time before freezing over again or sublimating.

Bob Clark

 

[Notebook]

BBC article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29665247

N.

 

[BrianJ]

Live webcast from SLOOH telescope starts 18:15 UTC.

 

[Notebook]

Webcast has startded

 

[SanderBuruma]

is there a full footage from when the comet went past its perigee @ mars? I can't find it anywhere. Is it in the private domain and if it isn't, is it going to be in the public domain? atm I only have a few pictures.

 

[Aeadar]

is there a full footage from when the comet went past its perigee @ mars? I can't find it anywhere. Is it in the private domain and if it isn't, is it going to be in the public domain? atm I only have a few pictures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjNoxEL45vU

That link is from Messierhunters post #443 on the (current) last page of the Astrophoto thread.

The best I've seen so far.

 

[Soheil_Esy]

Cometary debris crashing on Mars?

Cometary debris crashing on Mars?

The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on November 5, 2014 has spotted a mushroom cloud on the surface of the red planet.

Images taken by Mars Colour Camera (MCC) onboard show the mysterious cloud with great clarity. The cloud is situated above the Valles Marineris Canyon. Its distinct mushroom shape and close-up views, depict what seems to be a large crater formed underneath the cloud.

The discovery has erupted plenty of questions and theories about the cause of the mushroom cloud.

One of the causes that have been ruled out is that the recent discovery of methane found by Curiosity Rover could not be the origin. The amounts found on Mars are too minor to cause an explosion and crates as seen in Siberia. What has also been ruled out is surface wind, which is rare on the planet as the cloud does not depict a windy swirl.

One of the more plausible explanations put forth, is when comet Siding Spring which passed extremely close to Mars on October 19, 2014, might have caused the explosion. According to the Inquisitr, NASA cut off live feed while the comet was passing by Mars as a way to cover-up the event. Conspiracy theorists claim, NASA knew that the explosion would occur caused by the comet, added the Inquisitr.

It is possible MOM captured the explosion as it occurred.
http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report-mushroom-cloud-on-mars-captured-by-mars-orbiter-mission-2066959

'The image shows a huge mushroom cloud and we may wonder whether it is an enormous rare dust wind cloud, or caused due to a methane explosion.'
The image was taken around the same time as the Siding Spring comet passed Mars last year.

Pictured is a zoomed in version of what some believe is the mushroom cloud, showing the crater rim, stem explosion and cloud shadow. The image was taken around the same time as the Siding Spring comet passed Mars on October 19 last year.

 

[Urwumpe]

How did the area look before....

http://www.google.com/mars/#lat=-7.993958&lon=-91.939086&zoom=7&map=visible

oooooops... a permanent mushroom cloud!

 

[statickid]

Looks like a combination of low angled light and a slightly blurry image make a cool illusion. Why do I think it's an illusion? Well the crater is just Oudemans Crater, and the "cloud" seems to just be painted on by the shape of known and very well imaged mountains that are lighter in color than the far east-most bowl of Noctis labyrinthus, which has a dark colored floor. Every detail of the "cloud" corresponds with various land features on higher resolution images.

Very cool looking though!

EDIT: DANG!! semi-:ninja:'d by Urwumpe

 

[boogabooga]

Wow, this is being debunked in two threads now.

According to the Inquisitr, NASA cut off live feed while the comet was passing by Mars as a way to cover-up the event. Conspiracy theorists claim, NASA knew that the explosion would occur caused by the comet, added the Inquisitr

Yep. Those evil people at NASA would deliberately hide a comet impacting another planet from the world. Oh, wait...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Shoemaker–Levy_9