The comet image shown here is a composite of Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 exposures taken between October 18, 8:06 a.m. EDT and October 19, 11:17 p.m. EDT.
Credits
NASA, ESA, J.-Y. Li (PSI), C.M. Lisse (JHU/APL), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Comet C/2013 A1, Comet Siding Spring |
| Object Description | Comet |
| Distance | On October 19, 2014, at 2:28 p.m. EDT, Mars and Comet Siding Spring were approximately 149 million miles from Earth and passed within 87,000 miles (1.5 arcminutes) of each other. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The image was created from Hubble data from the following proposals: : PI: Z. Levay and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) and : PI: J.-Y. Li (Planetary Science Institute), T. Farnham and M. Kelley (University of Maryland), N. Samarasinha (Planetary Science Institute), D. Bodewits and M. A'Hearn (University of Maryland), C. Lisse (JHU/APL), W. Delamere (Delamere Support Services), and M. Mutchler (STScI). |
| Instrument | HST>WFC3/UVIS |
| Exposure Dates | October 19, 2014 |
| Filters | F775W |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
