This close approach in October 2014 between Mars and comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring is really fascinating. It looks like the Curiosity rover is in an ideal place to see this comet - - if its cameras can work at night. I've just finished a Starry Night simulation of what this comet might look like to an observer located at Gale Crater on October 19, 2014, and the view makes me drool. On the day of close approach Earth rises before sunrise and shines at magnitude -2.5. At sunset Venus is in the west and is at mag -3.6. A couple of hours after sunset the comet rises in the southeast and is blazing away at mag -4. That's of course an estimate and no one really knows how bright it will be. But it's freakin' CLOSE and the tail could easily cover half the sky. To top it all off, the moon Phobos goes screaming through the sky, right through the tail, west-to-east, and is shining at mag -8, and moving at nearly a degree per minute. Someday, maybe in a hundred years, people will be hosting star parties on Mars and the sights could be amazing. Seth -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Patrick Wiggins Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2013 4:25 PM To: utah astronomy utah astronomy listserve Subject: [Utah-astronomy] More on Mars / comet This today from JPL on the comet nearing Mars: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news179.html patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".