A STUDY OF DUST AND GAS AT MARS FROM COMET C/2013 A1 (SIDING SPRING)

Journal Article · Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/792/1/L16· OSTI ID:22365164

Kelley, Michael S. P.; Farnham, Tony L.; Bodewits, Dennis ^[1]; Tricarico, Pasquale ^[2]; Farnocchia, Davide ^[3]

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1. Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-2421 (United States)
2. Planetary Science Institute, 1700 East Fort Lowell, Suite 106, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States)
3. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States)

Although the nucleus of comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) will safely pass Mars in 2014 October, the dust in the coma and tail will more closely approach the planet. Using a dynamical model of comet dust, we estimate the impact fluence. Based on our nominal model no impacts are expected at Mars. Relaxing our nominal model's parameters, the fluence is no greater than ∼10{sup –7} grains m{sup –2} for grain radii larger than 10 μm. Mars-orbiting spacecraft are unlikely to be impacted by large dust grains, but Mars may receive as many as ∼10{sup 7} grains, or ∼100 kg of total dust. We also estimate the flux of impacting gas molecules commonly observed in comet comae.

• OSTI ID: 22365164
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 792, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
COMETS
COSMIC DUST
INTERSTELLAR GRAINS
MARS PLANET
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
METEORITES
METEOROIDS
MOLECULES
SIMULATION