comet c/2013 a1 possible mars impact next year

[smith25]

http://astroblogger.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/update-on-comet-c2013-a1-siding-spring.html?m=1

Looks like theres a chance that a 30 mile diameter comet could hit mars next year

Which would make the one that wiped out the dinosaus look small... might have to

Kiss goodbye to the mars rovers.

[BARRY]

http://astroblogger....spring.html?m=1

Looks like theres a chance that a 30 mile diameter comet could hit mars next year

Which would make the one that wiped out the dinosaus look small... might have to

Kiss goodbye to the mars rovers.

christ if that hits mars, we can say goodbuy to mars

[smith25]

Mars would be fine it would just make very big bang something like 500 hiroshimas

[Pixel]

http://astroblogger....spring.html?m=1

Looks like theres a chance that a 30 mile diameter comet could hit mars next year

Which would make the one that wiped out the dinosaus look small... might have to

Kiss goodbye to the mars rovers.

certainly one to watch..

I remember Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 very well in 94.. amazing to watch the coverage of that.

Just wander tho.. if this one doesn't hit Mars would mars' gravity change the comets direction... ? & if did hit would debris bit be thrown up into space?

[Steve C]

Mars would be fine it would just make very big bang something like 500 hiroshimas

Many, many times bigger than your figure.

Food for thought though. Could you imagine the situation if our rather larger target was in the firing line now?

[Bobby]

Mars would be fine it would just make very big bang something like 500 hiroshimas

The asteroid/comet that wiped out the dinosaurs was only 6-7 miles wide while this is 30 miles and travelling much faster. 500 hiroshimas, more like tens/hundreds of billions. Would wipe out most life on Earth if it hit us, even us maybe.

Unlikely though but worth keeping an eye on.

if did hit would debris bit be thrown up into space?

Yes might even cause meteor showers on Earth, that's how some mars meteorites have fallen to earth in the past. Mars would probably grow a temporary ring like Saturn, it's thought that happened to Earth when the impact that wiped the dinosaurs out hit 65 million years ago.

Edited February 27, 2013 by Bobby

[smith25]

Many, many times bigger than your figure.

Food for thought though. Could you imagine the situation if our rather larger target was in the firing line now?

Its only just been discovered so if it was heading at us then its game over time

[summer blizzard]

It's actually more likely to miss by less than 2 earth diameters, it's just within the margin of error that it may hit.

It's a shame a hit couldn't restart the core and get its magnetic shield going.

[Steve C]

Its only just been discovered so if it was heading at us then its game over time

Exactly.

People are starting to track large asteroids nicely now, although we are vulnerable to blindside hits. We are likely to have many years notice of possible impacts.

No such luxury with comets.

[weatherobsuk]

Mars would be fine it would just make very big bang something like 500 hiroshimas

I've heard estimates that such a impact would be the equivalent of every nuclear arsenal ever detonated on Earth times a BILLION. Magnitudes would estimate that for a few minutes at least Mars in the night sky would have a similar magnitude as the sun, meaning telescope observation without a filter would be dangerous but the receeding hours afterwards will enable visual obs of the debris cloud. If the impact is significant enough it may also trigger Olympus Mons and other similar volcanic sites.

Impact is estimated in October 2014 with the comet travelling at a speed of 35miles/second near-head on to the planet.

[Pixel]

October 20th 2014 by the looks of it:

http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2013A1;cad=1;orb=1;cov=0;log=0#orb

lots of thoughts/info here:

http://www.universetoday.com/100298/is-a-comet-on-a-collision-course-with-mars/

[Polar Maritime]

WILL A COMET HIT MARS? According to analysts at NASA, newly-discovered Comet 2013 A1 (Siding Spring) will pass very close to Mars in Oct. 2014. Observations through March 1, 2013, suggest a flyby only 31,000 miles from the red planet's surface, and NASA cannot yet rule out an impact. http://www.spaceweather.com/

[swebby]

Visualisation of the close approach by Leonid Elenin

http://spaceobs.org/...13-a1-s-marsom/

Edited March 9, 2013 by swebby

[Polar Maritime]

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/26mar_marscomet/

[Bobby]

Talking of comets hitting planets, new research has suggested the impact that wiped out the Dinosaurs and most other life on Earth 65 million years ago was caused by a comet, not an asteroid as has been generally thought.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-21709229

The space rock that hit Earth 65m years ago and is widely implicated in the end of the dinosaurs was probably a speeding comet, US scientists say.

Researchers in New Hampshire suggest the 180km-wide Chicxulub crater in Mexico was carved out by a smaller object than previously thought.

For this smaller space rock to have produced a 180km-wide crater, it must have been travelling relatively quickly. The team found that a long-period comet fitted the bill much better than other possible candidates.

"You'd need an asteroid of about 5km diameter to contribute that much iridium and osmium. But an asteroid that size would not make a 200km-diameter crater," said Dr Moore.

"So we said: how do we get something that has enough energy to generate that size of crater, but has much less rocky material? That brings us to comets."

Edited March 29, 2013 by Bobby

[mike Meehan]

Talking of comets hitting planets, new research has suggested the impact that wiped out the Dinosaurs and most other life on Earth 65 million years ago was caused by a comet, not an asteroid as has been generally thought.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-21709229

The space rock that hit Earth 65m years ago and is widely implicated in the end of the dinosaurs was probably a speeding comet, US scientists say.

Researchers in New Hampshire suggest the 180km-wide Chicxulub crater in Mexico was carved out by a smaller object than previously thought.

For this smaller space rock to have produced a 180km-wide crater, it must have been travelling relatively quickly. The team found that a long-period comet fitted the bill much better than other possible candidates.

"You'd need an asteroid of about 5km diameter to contribute that much iridium and osmium. But an asteroid that size would not make a 200km-diameter crater," said Dr Moore.

"So we said: how do we get something that has enough energy to generate that size of crater, but has much less rocky material? That brings us to comets."

Not forgetting that it appears that the Earth along with the other planets of the Solar system were pretty well bombarded during their early life and current theories maintain that a good part of the water on Earth today was delivered by comets with icy cores, though they are finding now that some of the asteroids are of ice rather than rock.

Either way, whether it be a collision or a near miss, it should present great opportunities for study.

[swebby]

An article published over the weekend on universe today states that the JPL have newly refined orbit calculations which makes the likelihood of an impact much smaller, to point it effectively rules out any impact.

 

http://www.universetoday.com/101437/new-calculations-effectively-rule-out-comet-impacting-mars-in-2014/#more-101437

[Michelle Baker]

What would happen to the alignment of the planets if Mars got wiped out?

Edited April 15, 2013 by Michelle Baker