The Hubble Space Telescope has captured images of a comet en route to pass close by Mars later this year, revealing that the space object has sprouted twin jets of dust from its surface.
Scientists are keeping a close eye on the comet to see how its cosmic dust will affect the Red Planet and the orbiters and rovers that are studying it, Space.com reported. The Hubble photos were taken the comet was 353 miles from Earth.
"This is critical information that we need to determine whether, and to what degree, dust grains in the coma of the comet will impact Mars and spacecraft in the vicinity of Mars," Jian-Yang Li of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz., said in a statement quoted by Space.com.
Studying the latest images of Comet Siding Spring along with observations from January and October, the scientists are learning more about the comet, including the axis of rotation of its nucleus and how quickly it's expending dust.
They won't know until April or May whether or not Comet Sliding Spring will be a problem for the NASA orbiters, Mars Reconnaissance and Mars Odyssey, according to Space.com. The two NASA rovers on the surface of Mars, Curiosity and Opportunity, should be fine since Mars' atmosphere will keep cosmic dust from hitting the planet's surface.
Comet Siding Spring, which was discovered in January 2013, is heading toward Mars to pass it by a mere 84,000 miles on Oct. 19. The distance measures about a third of the space between the Earth and the moon, Space.com reported.
Scientists hypothesize that the comet came from a distant comet collective called the Oort Cloud and is on its first trip through the inner solar system. They believe it won't come through here again for another million years.
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?
