On the vertical transport of Mg+ ions of comet Siding Spring origin in the Martian upper atmosphere

Abstract

On 19 October 2014, comet Siding Spring (CSS) flew extremely closely by planet Mars at 18:29 UT with a closest approach distance of $\\sim 134$,000 km and a relative velocity of 56 km $\\mathrm{s}^{_{-}1}$. The arrival time of the cometary dust is $\\sim 90 \\min$ after closest approach. It dumped appreciable amounts of material into the Martian atmosphere, and the effects from this material persisted in the atmosphere for several days. During the CSS event, there were five spacecraft orbiting Mars, namely, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), Mars Express (MEX), Mars Atmospheric Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission, Mars Odyssey, and Mars Orbiter Mission. These spacecraft are equipped with instruments that are capable of observing the atmospheric effects of the cometary dust.