☄️ 3I/ATLAS... ...FAST APPROACHING🔴 #MARS!!! Close encounter is THIS Friday & as an astronomer (former #NASA) & planetary scientist it made me wonder: ✨WHAT CAN WE EXPECT??? BUCKLE UP & Let's Take A HARD LOOK! 💥Turns out this is NOT the only time #NASA has mobilized spacecraft to look at a #comet As a matter of fact the upcoming encounter is pure DEJA VU! 💥A look back will SURPRISE you: FLASHBACK 11 years ago... - it's 2014 & #Comet C/2013 A1 #SidingSpring has plunged in from almost outside our Solar System, from the distant Oort Cloud & is fast approaching #Mars... SOUNDS ALMOST FAMILIAR! Just like now, back then multiple spacecraft🛰️ WERE ALL mobilized to observe this ☄️comet, including: -Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter -2001 Mars Odyssey -ESA's Mars Express -MAVEN -Indian Mars Orbiter Mangalyaan ~ & on Mars SURFACE: BOTH #Curiosity & #Opportunity rovers! ⚡The comet flew by #Mars SOOOOO CLOSE (only ~138,000 km!) that orbiters were repositioned in order to protect them from possible damage from cometary particulates. Even at such close range, although good science was obtained - from a strictly public perspective, the IMAGES were NOT spectacular - see below👇 💥In comparison 3I/ATLAS, at ~17 M-miles, will be ~195 TIMES FARTHER from Mars! Let me repeat & rephrase that: #CometSidingSpring flew by #MARS 195 TIMES CLOSER than #3IATLAS will! 💥Although 3I/ATLAS is a fascinating object worth studying - contrary to what SOME people are claiming - such close encounters are obviously NOT that anomolous... ✨🌠 So using data from 2014 #CometSidingSpring encounter... I ran the numbers & got: 💥 In #MRO images everyone is looking forward to so much: 3I/ATLAS will probably appear as only a: FUZZY DOT or smudge - an unresolved point source or a minor variation in brightness/color within ONE PIXEL that is blended with the surrounding space background. NO shape NO surface features NO texture NO internal structure ...will be discernible, since 3I/ATLAS is WAY SMALLER than the resolution limit & 195 TIMES FARTHER than #Comet #SidingSpring was. ✨IF #3IATLAS brightens considerably & grows a big tail: larger extended features might span ONLY several pixels ✨IF the coma somehow manages to exceed ~50-100 km in diameter, this MIGHT allow some BLURRY structure in the gaseous envelope to be visible 💥My calculations align with #HiRISE's performance in past comet imagings, including Comet Siding Spring in 2014 where at MUCH CLOSER distance (138,000 km) yielded ONLY ~138 m/pixel resolution, & so resolved a ~0.5-1 km nucleus across only 3-7 pixels & showed ONLY basic shape. 💥 WHAT ABOUT THE SURFACE ROVERS??? Surface rover imaging didn't do much better either👇 So it seems those hyping this encounter will have to temper their expectations, given that 3I/ATLAS nucleus is barely 5 km width, & is ~195 TIMES FARTHER AWAY (at ~27 MILLION KM), probably NO real details of the 3I/ATLAS itself will be seen - only perhaps its overall presence as a FUZZY POINT-LIKE FEATURE - & that's it (sorry!) 💥💥💥💥💥💥💥 I HONESTLY HOPE I'M WRONG & #3IATLAS puts on an unexpectedly spectacular show! Also, one can hope that some advanced AI image processing MIGHT produce at least some improvement BUT I doubt it... TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT WHAT HiRES produced 11 yrs ago on #Comet #SidingSpring 👇 AND REMEMBER to keep in mind that #Comet #SidingSpring was 195 TIMES CLOSER.than 3IATLAS... ICYMI: ✨ x.com/MarianRudnyk/status/19… ✨ x.com/MarianRudnyk/status/19… #astronomy #ufoX #uap @CNN #AviLoeb @PhDBrandenburg @rosscoulthart @GeologicalSETI @g_knapp @FoxNews @ABC

Mars Curiosity images comet from the Red Planet's surface sen.com/news/mars-curiosity-… #CometSidingSpring #Curiosity #Mars

Comet encounter sparked meteor storm over Mars sen.com/news/comet-encounter… by @astrojenny #Mars #CometSidingSpring

Hubble Captures Stunning Image Showing How Close #CometSidingSpring Came To Mars penny4nasa.org/2014/10/24/co… #NASA #Mars

Stupid #CometSidingSpring aims for #Mars, misses scientificamerican.com/slide…

Two new views of #CometSidingSpring: afar from Earth & up close from orbit around Mars. bit.ly/1ygYHg6

Comet Siding Spring causes an explosion on Mars (Video) examiner.com/article/comet-s… #CometSidingSpring #Mars ???

What if #CometSidingSpring had hit Mars? Something smaller hit a couple years ago & did this: 1.usa.gov/1fvKvpq

Өчигдрийн Ангарагын хажуугаар өнгөрдөг сүүлт од нэг иймэрхүү бдалтай байж. #CometSidingSpring

All three @NASA orbiters A-OK after close encounter between #Mars and #CometSidingSpring: go.nasa.gov/1r15B3X

#CometSidingSpring buzzes Mars, but @NASA orbiters and rovers are safe. See the details: cnn.it/1ptzj15 #CNN

Small mountain flies past Mars. bit.ly/11USKuH #CometSidingSpring

Via @slooh a Telescope owned by the network an image of #CometSidingSpring

Via @Slooh - Telescope based in South Africa taking a shot of #CometSidingSpring

Via @Slooh #CometSidingSpring from a telescope affiliated with Slooh in Chile

RT @STForeignDesk: #CometSidingSpring whizzes past #Mars bit.ly/1Dqiw7p

#CometSidingSpring whizzes past #Mars bit.ly/1Dqiw7p

More Real Time Comet Siding Spring Photos spaceweathergallery.com/come… #CometSidingSpring #photos #space #photography

Seriously @peachastro that's the nicest shot I've seen by ANYONE of #CometSidingSpring Thx to you and @sen for that!

#CometSidingSpring 　　　　. .:,´` . 　　_. :´:´' ( _ .' 　＿　＿ （_O/\O_) 　　||　_＿＿＿ . //\\||＿|☼= |＼║ (<　 ▓|░[＿|〔＿| 　(::::)::::)　 (::::):::)