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Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Comet Siding Spring from Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity

Comet Siding Spring from Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity
Comet Siding Spring from Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity A comet fresh from the Oort cloud visited Mars on 19 October 2014. Opportunity pointed cameras before sunset and then woke up to take this photo at 3:19 a.m. local time on sol 3817, about 2.5 hours before its closest approach to Mars. The comet makes a slightly elongated smudge across the sky -- but it is elongated in a different direction than the streaked stars in this long exposure, indicating the comet's apparent rapid motion across the Martian sky. NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell / ASU / TAMU