JPL: Comet to Make Close Flyby of Mars in 2014

New observations of comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) have allowed NASA's Near-Earth Object Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to further refine the comet's orbit, the agency announced on its website. 

Using data culled through April 7, the latest orbital plot places the comet's closest approach to Mars slightly closer than previous estimates, at about 68,000 miles (110,000 kilometers). However, the new set of data now significantly reduces the probability the comet will impact the Red Planet, from about 1 in 8,000 to about 1 in 120,000, the website states. The latest estimated time for the Mars flyby is about 11:51 a.m. PDT on Oct. 19, 2014. At the time of closest approach, the comet will be on the sunward side of the planet. 

Future observations of the comet are expected to refine the orbit further. The most up-to-date close-approach data can be found at: http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=C%2F2013%20A1;orb=0;cov=0;log=0;cad=1;rad=0#cad .