Jupiter gets bonked by either a comet or asteroid

William Atkins
Tuesday, 21 July 2009 18:29

Science - Space

At about 11:30 p.m. local time, Wesley began to observe a strange spot on Jupiter that was several thousands of kilometers wide and off the south pole of Jupiter.

For an image of the impact, check out the Science article at Small Hit, Big Planet.

For additional comments, go to Mike Salway’s website.

And, comments made by Wesley are found at “Impact mark on Jupiter, 19th July 2009,” courtesy of Science.

Wesley contacted Fletcher and Orton (among others) who had remote access to the 3-meter NASA Infrared Telescope, which is located on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, from this location at JPL.

The pair observed the same impact point as Wesley, verifying his result. The impact site is said to be located at about 216 degrees longitude in System 2.

In fact, Dr. Orton had observed the first known impact of Jupiter by an object in 1994, when Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacted the planet.

Science reports this story at: “Shoemaker-Levy Dazzles, Bewilders Kerr" (Science 29 July 1994: 601-602 DOI: 10.1126/science.265.5172.601; subscription required).

The Guardian story also states that the discovery is “... is a remarkable twist of fate, the discovery was made on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and the 15th anniversary of another large comet strike on Jupiter."

For additional information, check out Space.com’s article “Jupiter Apparently Smacked by Rogue Object, New Images Reveal.”