Posted on 07/21/2009 6:07:43 AM PDT by Red in Blue PA
PASADENA, California — A large comet or asteroid has slammed into Jupiter, creating an impact site the size of Earth, pictures by an Australian amateur astronomer show.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory confirmed the discovery using its large infrared telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, said computer programer Anthony Wesley, 44, who discovered the impact zone while stargazing at home.
News of Wesley's find on a backyard 14.5-inch reflecting telescope has stunned the astronomy world, with scientists saying the impact will last only days more.
Wesley said it took him 30 minutes to realize a dark spot rotating in Jupiter's clouds on July 19 was actually the first impact seen by astronomers since a comet collided with the giant planet in July 1994.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Well I can state with absolute certainty some day we will be hit by a massive object. It is equally probable that it will be tomorrow, or 100,000 years from now or 1 million years from now. But it will happen.
"It was the NORTH KOREAN'S new Mile Long Dong missile!"You mean the one that flew into Uranus? :)
Hey, maybe it was Earth that impacted Jupiter, ‘cause the fellow could see it on his peewee size telescope, so it had to be close, and Gore just hasn’t told us yet.
And probably texting to boot.
Damn,,that meteor should have been taxed! Where are the dems on this?
Dan: Yes-yes that's right, that's right.
Karl: I wanna name her Dottie after my wife. She's a vicious life-sucking bitch from which there is no escape.
Dammit, you beat me.
The next Ice Age is more likely to hit first.
Feh. It will do until a REAL planet comes along. I've seen bigger planets smoking cigarettes on the streetcorner.
It was Mark Twain that defined an "expert" as, "some guy from out of town."
Oh please, nothing like that will ever happen HERE.
Next thing you’ll be telling me is that the USA elected a foreign national as POTUS.
Considering the size of the impact, and the size of Jupiter overall, I’d expect that the people in the vicinity looked around and said “who cut the cheese?”
About one trillion (please, don’t tell 0bama what comes after a trillion) radio meteors (those with enough energy to ionize the atmosphere) a day, with a total mass of about ten tons enter the Earth’s atmosphere daily. The mass of the individual members is roughly exponentially distributed, so very large objects are rare, but not impossible.
It’s happen before, of course. The crater is called the Pacific Ocean and the residual debris is called the Moon. No other planet in our solar system has a satellite with nearly as large a relative mass. The earth/moon system could almost be considered a double planet. I say almost, because the center of mass of the combination lies below the surface of the earth.
Actually, it reminds us that Jupiter is still doing its job of collecting asteroids & comets that might otherwise impact the Earth.
So. Is THIS worth ANY part of “NASA’s” budget?
****Feh. It will do until a REAL planet comes along. I’ve seen bigger planets smoking cigarettes on the streetcorner.****
Is that your way of telling us that you use Uranus for an ashtray?
All These Worlds Are Yours Except Europa...
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