"I'd hit that!"
Posted on 07/20/2009 8:47:45 PM PDT by rdl6989
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at jpl.nasa.gov ...
Ping.
That’s pretty wild. I’m glad Jupiter is catching this instead of us.
Thank you Jupiter. We appreciate that.
It is important to note that NASA is confirming the initial observation of this impact that was made yesterday by an amateur astronomer in Canberra, Australia.
Amateur Astronomy *ping*
There was a post about this on FR almost immediately this morning.
Not doing the “Duplicate post” stuff, just commenting on how quickly FR can get news out there.
Ping
If it made an impact that an amateur astronomer can see, then it must have been pretty darn large.
Yeah, it would ruin our day.
The Rare Earth Hypothesis posits that Jupiter-sized planet(s) are essential in the outer solar system distal to any earth like planets for life and intelligence to occur.
The gas giant(s) are vacuum cleaners for space debris that would otherwise extinguish life in the inner solar system.
It’s not uncommon for these things to come in groups.
"I'd hit that!"
Wake me up when they start hitting Mars.
Well, the object may have had companions which are now slung into earth crossing orbits and could be in our future, our near earth future.
Michael Moore must be saving us from an awful lot of donuts.
ping
Following up on a tip by an amateur astronomer, Anthony Wesley of Australia, that a new dark "scar" had suddenly appeared on Jupiter...
"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.
If JPL got the tip from Mr. Wesley, then how did they "plan" it? Are they stealing Mr. Wesley's credit?
We are saved!
Jupe’s definitely “taking one for the team”!
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