Satellite tallies Mars-bound comet’s water output

In late May, NASA’s Swift satellite imaged Comet Siding Spring, which will brush astonishingly close to Mars later this year. These optical and ultraviolet observations are the first to reveal how rapidly the comet is producing water and allow astronomers to better estimate its size. “Comet Siding Spring is making its first passage through the inner solar system and is experiencing its first strong heating from the Sun,” said lead researcher Dennis Bodewits, an astronomer at the University of Maryland College Park. “These observations…” [More at link]