Doomsday comet may hit Mars

[TLAM Strike]

Looks like Russia got off easy.

http://up-ship.com/blog/?p=19134

C/2013 A1 was discovered January 3, so it has not been observed for terribly long. However, current orbital projections for October 19, 2014, has it passing within 0.0007 AU (63,000 miles). But due to uncertainties, it could pass as far away as 0.008 AU… or it could impact. If it does, it’ll hit at an impressive 35 miles per second.
And in this case, I really, *really* hope that it hits. Because it’ll hit *Mars,* not Earth.

With the current estimate of the absolute magnitude of the nucleus M2 = 10.3, which might indicate the diameter up to 50 km, the energy of impact might reach the equivalent of staggering 2×10¹º megatonnes! This kind of event can leave a crater 500 km across and 2 km deep.

more info:

http://news.discovery.com/space/astr...014-130225.htm

[Takeda Shingen]

Prayers to the Maritian people.

[u crank]

Heads up Curiosity......heads up.

[kiwi_2005]

2014 Earth invaded by aliens

[AVGWarhawk]

They would be illegal aliens. Or New Earthlings. Depending on your view.

[Oberon]

It'll be one of the biggest astronomical events since Shoemaker-Levy went to play in Jupiter:



The biggest fragment of that hit Jupiter with a force estimated at six million megatons.

It'll be a very interesting event if it does hit because we have so many probes around and on Mars that we can get some good data from it. Poor Curiosity might get a bit sand-blasted if its still going, but it'll capture footage that'll make Michael Bay sit back and go 'Dayum'.

Then, of course, the Martians will HAVE to invade Earth to get extra resources.

[gimpy117]

Originally Posted by u crank

Heads up Curiosity......heads up.

if it does hit it will be a hell of a chance to study comet impacts

[AndreasMeyer]

Will this be observable?

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by AndreasMeyer

Will this be observable?

Unless you're on Mars or have a pretty powerful telescope my money is on no.

[Jimbuna]

Keep the tracking radars powered up and on the lookout for a sudden influx of illegal aliens.

[Wolferz]

Ack Ack Ack Ack Ack.

[Betonov]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Unless you're on Mars or have a pretty powerful telescope my money is on no.

NASA has, I hope they catch it

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Unless you're on Mars or have a pretty powerful telescope my money is on no.

Well this Comet maybe 10 times bigger than Shoemaker-Levy 9, and a little bit smaller than Hale-Bopp. If we are just talking about just the out gassing it should be visible; if not by the naked eye then by a simple telescope or binocs.

If it hits Mars that blast would on the order of 20 Petatonnes. I'm going to guess and say you will see Mars visibly brighten with just the naked eye. If you got a cheap telescope like I do you are going to see some serious rearrangement of the planet.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

If it hits Mars that blast would on the order of 20 Petatonnes.

That kind of blast energy....I can't even comprehend it.

[Dowly]

If it hits, I'm curious to see what kind of images Curiousity sends back.

Might be valuable info for understanding what kind of damage we are talking about
if one of those things would hit the Earth.