--- description: Watch a Comet Fly by Mars title: LIVE STREAM: See Comet Siding Spring Fly By Mars image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ffda697aae58faa/6987618e35ba6fac0fc04869/comet-siding-spring-mars-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Space](/tag/space/) ## Space Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch a Giant, 4.6 Billion-Year-Old Comet Fly By Mars  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 19, 2014 4:23 PM CUT  Artist's concept of comet Siding Spring (C/2013 A1) heading toward Mars. Artist's concept of comet Siding Spring (C/2013 A1) heading toward Mars.NASA  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 19, 2014 4:23 PM CUT Watch highlights of Comet Siding Spring zoom past Mars and get roughly within 87,000 miles of the red planet — the closest any comet has gotten to it in a long, _long_ time. The livestream from the [Slooh Community Observatory](https://twitter.com/Slooh/status/523269720074899456/photo/1 "undefined") was hosted by expert astrobiologist David Grinspoon and featured special guests. “We’re going to observe an event that happens maybe once every million years,” Jim Green, planetary science division director at NASA, [said this month](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-orbiters-rovers-poised-for-mars-comet-flyby/ "undefined") at a press conference. “This is an absolutely spectacular event.” Siding Spring is estimated to be 4.6 billion years old with a core somewhere between half a mile and 5 miles wide. Looking the comet’s close brush with Mars could teach scientists a lot about the planet’s atmosphere, [writes Mike Wall at Space.com](http://www.space.com/27467-comet-siding-spring-mars-flyby-science.html "undefined"). Studying the comet could also provide insight into how planets are formed: Siding Spring is believed to have been created in an area of our solar system between Jupiter and Neptune, but unlike most objects in that part of space at the time, it never was incorporated into a planet. ### PHOTOS: 20 Breathtaking Images of Earth From Space  Aleppo, Syria, May 26, 2013 – The Citadel of Aleppo – medieval fortified palace DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Belfast, Northern Ireland, Nov. 3, 2013 – “Wish,” a large-scale art work DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Utah, USA, April 22, 2013 – Colorado River DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Cuanza River, Angola, April 28, 2013 – Cambambe Dam DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Doha, Qatar, March 4, 2013 – Artificial island spanning nearly four million sq meters. DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Dunalley, Australia, Jan. 6, 2013 – fires, false color image (red = healthy vegetation) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Australia, April 22, 2013 – Great Barrier Reef DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Gwadar coast, Pakistan Sept. 29, 2013 – new island created by earthquake in Pakistan DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Croatia, Feb. 16, 2013 – Galešnjak (Island of Love) DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Hong Kong, China May 9, 2013 – giant rubber duck DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, March 22, 2013 – Manam Volcano DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Namib Desert, Namibia, May 13, 2013 – Sossusvlie area DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Naples, Italy, Feb. 19 2013 – Mount Vesuvius DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Niger, Feb. 13, 2013 – Arlit Uranium Mine DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Schooner Cays, Bahamas, May 26, 2013 DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Sochi, Russia, March 17, 2013 – Site of 2014 winter Olympics DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Near the city of Sur, Oman, Feb. 13, 2013 – massive “green tide” DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Valencia, Spain, July 19, 2013 – Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia and Gulliver Park with an enormous fiberglass model of Lemuel Gulliver trapped DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Versailles, France, Aug. 20, 2013 – Palace of Versailles DigitalGlobe—Getty Images  Xi'an, China, Sept. 24, 2013 – Shiyuan Park DigitalGlobe—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3522449/see-comet-siding-spring-mars-live-stream/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3522449/see-comet-siding-spring-mars-live-stream/"},"headline":"Watch a Giant, 4.6 Billion-Year-Old Comet Fly By Mars","datePublished":"2014-10-19T16:23:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:21.428Z","description":"Watch a Comet Fly by Mars","url":"https://time.com/3522449/see-comet-siding-spring-mars-live-stream/","keywords":["Space","astronomy","Mars","live stream"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ffda697aae58faa/6987618e35ba6fac0fc04869/comet-siding-spring-mars-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5ffda697aae58faa/6987618e35ba6fac0fc04869/comet-siding-spring-mars-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Artist's concept of comet Siding Spring (C/2013 A1) heading toward Mars.","caption":"Artist's concept of comet Siding Spring (C/2013 A1) heading toward Mars.","creditText":"NASA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3522449/see-comet-siding-spring-mars-live-stream/","name":"Watch a Giant, 4.6 Billion-Year-Old Comet Fly By Mars"}}]}] ```