Comet passing Mars to be studied by orbiters and rovers
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.028331
Los Angeles Times : On 19 October a comet will be passing 14 000 km from Mars, and NASA plans to use three Martian orbiters, two rovers, and several Earth-based and orbiting telescopes to examine it. Named Siding Spring, the comet was first spotted in January 2013 and is estimated to have a core between 0.8 km and 5 km wide. The gas cloud is 19 000 km across and its tail is 1 AU long. The window for observation will be relatively small, since the comet will be traveling 56.3 km/s as it passes Mars. Siding Spring appears to be on its first pass through the solar system, and its nearby route provides the first opportunity to observe up close an object from the Oort cloud. The observations may provide clues about the early formation of the solar system.
