You are here

Home › Comet Siding Spring

Comet Siding Spring and Its Close Approach to Mars: Observer's Workshop

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) hosted a one-day workshop on August 11, 2014, to discuss scientific opportunities offered by the close approach of Comet Siding Spring C/2013 A1 to Mars later this year. The comet will pass less than 130,000 kilometers from the Martian surface on October 19. Mars -- as well as the flotilla of robotic spacecraft in its orbit and on its surface -- will be closer to this comet than Earth has been to any other comet in recorded history. This represents an unprecedented opportunity to use existing space assets for a serendipitous, medium-range flyby of a dynamically-new, long-period comet. The goals of the workshop were: to discuss existing plans for Mars-based, Earth-based, and space-based observation of the comet; to facilitate collaborations between observers and modelers in the Comet and Mars communities; and to debate strategies for maximizing scientific return from the apparition.

Remote Participation
The workshop was broadcast in real time to the general public via livestream.com.

Social Media
We were using and actively monitoring the hashtag #MarsComet. You can continue to submit questions to us with that tag and we'll address them through Twitter.

Workshop Agenda and Presentations

Below is the agenda for the workshop, which you can use as a guide for navigating the Livestream Video of the event. The presentations given are all available at the appropriate link below. In each instance, you are recommended to right-click the link and save the file to your computer.

Pre-Workshop:

7:30 – 8:45 Sign-In
8:00 – 8:45 Breakfast

Session 1: Setting the Stage; Spacecraft Observations (I) (1h 45m)

Moderator: Battams

08:45 – 09:00 Introduction Green, Johnson, & Fast
09:00 – 09:25 CSS in Context [9.6MB PDF] Lisse
09:25 – 09:50 Hazard Overview [2.3MB PDF] Farnham
09:50 – 10:15 HST #1 [400KB PPTX], HST #2 [9MB PDF] Li team; Clarke team
10:15 – 10:30 Swift [4.5MB PDF] Bodewits

Morning Break: 10:30 – 10:45

Session 2: Suborbital & Spacecraft Observations (II) (1h 45m)

Moderator: Farnham

10:45 – 11:00 Herschel [0.5MB PDF] Mueller
11:00 – 11:20 WISE [11MB PDF] Bauer
11:20 – 11:40 Spitzer [0.5MB PDF] Kelley
11:40 – 11:50 SOFIA [18MB PDF] Wooden
11:50 – 12:00 STEREO & SOHO [1.7MB PDF] Battams
12:00 – 12:15 Chandra [8MB PDF] Lisse
12:15 – 12:30 BOPPS [3MB pptx] Cheng

Lunch: 12:30 – 13:30

Session 3: Earth-based Observations (1h 45m)

Moderator: DiSanti

13:30 – 13:45 TRAPPIST [2MB PDF] Jehin or Opitom
13:45 – 14:00 Crni Vrh & COBS [5MB pptx] Černý
14:00 – 14:15 Pro-Am Collaborations [15MB PDF] Yanamandra-Fisher
14:15 – 14:30 IRTF [8.5MB PDF] Villanueva
14:30 – 14:45 VLT [0.5MB PDF] Kelley
14:45 – 15:00 Subaru [4MB ppt] Ootsubo
15:00 – 15:15 Radio Observations [3MB PDF] Villanueva

Afternoon Break: 15:15 – 15:30

Session 4: Mars-based Observations; (2h 15m)

Moderator: Yanamandra-Fisher

15:30 – 15:35 Introduction [3MB PDF] Zurek
15:35 – 16:05 MRO: Intro [4MB PDF], CRISM [1MB PDF], MCS [2MB PDF] Tamppari, Delamere, Humm, Kass
16:05 – 16:30 MAVEN [6MB PDF] Yelle, Crismani
16:30 – 16:50 Mars Odyssey [2MB PDF] Christensen, Plaut, Hill
16:50 – 17:15 MSL & Opportunity: ChemCam [5MB PDF], Imaging [1MB PDF], Bell, Lemmon, Lasue
17:15 – 17:35 MOM [5MB PDF] Bhardwaj or Yanamandra-Fisher
17:35 – 17:45 MEX [60KB pptx] Gondet or Lacombe

Session 5 : Summary & Path Forward

17:45 – 18:00 Workshop Summary Lisse, Zurek

Refreshments & Informal Discussion over Carbonated Organic Beverages:
18:00 – 19:00