June 5, 2010
Space Weather
Amateur astronomers Anthony Wesley of Australia and Christopher Go of the Philippines have independently observed an impact event on Jupiter. The strike occurred at 20:31 UT on June 3rd and produced a bright flash of light in the giant planet's cloudtops:
Photo: Anthony Wesley, Broken Hill Australia"I still can't believe that I caught a live impact on Jupiter," says Go, who has made a must-see video of the event.
"There were no visible remains at the impact point for the next half hour or so, until sunrise put an end to the imaging," says Wesley.
The nature of the impactor is presently unknown. It might have been an asteroid or a comet. In either case, a dark and cindery debris field is expected to develop around the impact point; that's what has happened in the aftermath of previous Jupiter impacts. Astronomers are encouraged to monitor Jupiter, and stay tuned for updates.
Update #4 (June 5, 1200 UT): "This morning I woke up at 6 am local time (9 UT) to see Jupiter with my 120 mm refractor," reports Mariano Ribas of Buenos Aires, Argentina. "The planet was high in the sky (45-50º over horizon). I observed carefully for almost two hours with my telescope, using 110 to 200 x, but I saw nothing at all in the impact zone, which transited at 10:51 UT."
Update #3 (June 4, 2200 UT): A full day has elapsed since the flash, and many observatories have imaged the impact site. So far, a prominent debris cloud has not emerged. Was this impactor too small to produce much debris? Observations will continue...
Update #2 (June 4 1500 UT): Wesley has posted a 46 MB video of the impact on his web page. A smaller version is available here.
Update #1 (June 4, 0100 UT): Anthony Wesley has pinpointed the impact site at Jovian latitude minus 16.1º, and central meridian longitudes CM1: 300º, CM2: 33.8º and CM3: 210.4º.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/04/100423-sun-eruption-nasa-space-science-solar-observatory/