Scientists have found evidence that another object has bombarded Jupiter, exactly 15 years after the first impacts by the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.
Following up on a tip by an amateur astronomer, Anthony Wesley of Australia, that a new dark “scar” had suddenly appeared on Jupiter, this morning between 3 and 9 a.m. PDT (6 a.m. and noon EDT) scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., using NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility at the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, gathered evidence indicating an impact. New infrared images show the likely impact point was near the south polar region, with a visibly dark “scar” and bright upwelling particles in the upper atmosphere detected in near-infrared wavelengths, and a warming of the upper troposphere with possible extra emission from ammonia gas detected at mid-infrared wavelengths.
“We were extremely lucky to be seeing Jupiter at exactly the right time, the right hour, the right side of Jupiter to witness the event. We couldn’t have planned it better,” said Glenn Orton, a scientist at JPL. Orton and his team of astronomers kicked into gear early in the morning and haven’t stopped tracking the planet. They are downloading data now and are working to get additional observing time on this and other telescopes. This image was taken at 1.65 microns, a wavelength sensitive to sunlight reflected from high in Jupiter’s atmosphere, and it shows both the bright center of the scar (bottom left) and the debris to its northwest (upper left).
“It could be the impact of a comet, but we don’t know for sure yet,” said Orton. “It’s been a whirlwind of a day, and this on the anniversary of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Apollo anniversaries is amazing.”
The timing couldn’t be stranger. Apparently these impacts aren’t as rare as we would like to believe.
That’s not an impact. That’s a Jovian Oomglawiiptaloow ripping a huge fart.
Why wouldn’t we be aware of such a large comet nearby and its impact on Jupiter? Could it be Jupiter has its own new private anomaly? Think of the previous comet which was witnessed over several days and we knew everything about it (them, when they broke up). How could we have missed seeing/knowing about such a large comet hitting Jupiter. Facts must conclude, there was no comet. Jupiter’s gravity is finally falling onto itself. Size of the compression is as large as the ‘red dot’. Would not there be some debris coming out of Jupiter if it was a comet? Now, the next step is to ponder what will happen to Jupiter once it collapses and to its moons. Will Jupiter ultimately become a new sun?