Colliding Atmospheres: Mars vs Comet Siding Spring - A Once in a Lifetime Celestial Show or Apocalypse?

Comet Siding Spring is about to fly historically close to Mars.

The encounter could spark Martian auroras, a meteor shower, and other unpredictable effects.

Whatever happens, NASA’s fleet of Mars satellites will have a ringside seat.

Comet Siding Spring will pass extremely close to Mars on 19 October 2014 at 18:33 UTC.[6] Initial observations by Leonid Elenin on 27 February 2013, suggested that it might pass 0.000276 AU (41,300 km; 25,700 mi) from the center of Mars.

 With an observation arc of 662 days, the nominal pass is 0.00088 AU (132,000 km; 82,000 mi) from the center-point of Mars and the uncertainty region shows that it will not come closer than 0.00086 AU (129,000 km; 80,000 mi).

For comparison, Mars’s outer moon Deimos orbits 0.00016 AU (24,000 km; 15,000 mi) from the planet. Due to the uncertainty region, there is a small possibility that it will pass Mars as far away as 0.0009 AU (130,000 km; 84,000 mi). It will pass Mars at a relative velocity of 56 km/s (35 mi/s).http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2013_A1

Image credit: NASA

COMETS: SIDING SPRING (C/2013 A1) http://mars.nasa.gov/comets/sidingspring/