Comet Smashes Earth-Sized Hole in Jupiter

We already knew that the planet Jupiter was hit by a comet the other day.  What we did NOT know, however, was that this comet smashed a hole in Jupiter...and that hole is about the size of the planet Earth!

What's even more impressive is that this hole was discovered by an amateur astronomer.

Australian Anthony Wesley was using a home-made telescope in the yard of his home in Murrumbateman, near Canberra, when he noticed that a dark scar had suddenly appeared on the side of the Red Planet at around 1am yesterday morning.

He writes:

I came back to the scope at about 12:40am I noticed a dark spot rotating into view in Jupiters south polar region started to get curious. When first seen close to the limb (and in poor conditions) it was only a vaguely dark spot, I thought likely to be just a normal dark polar storm. However as it rotated further into view, and the conditions improved I suddenly realised that it wasn’t just dark, it was black in all channels, meaning it was truly a black spot....

It took another 15 minutes to really believe that I was seeing something new - I’d imaged that exact region only 2 days earlier and checking back to that image showed no sign of any anomalous black spot.

Now I was caught between a rock and a hard place - I wanted to keep imaging but also I was aware of the importance of alerting others to this possible new event...I had to start telling people, and quickly....

Wesley said that he discovered the scar while running back and forth, trying to catch the final rounds of the British Open on television.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Planet Jupiter hit by object which left a dent the size of Earth (telegraph.co.uk)
• Something May Have Just Hit Jupiter (science.slashdot.org)
• Jupiter Takes It on the Chin (usnews.com)
• Comet Strike on Jupiter? (themoderatevoice.com)
• Jupiter Apparently Smacked by Rogue Object, New Images Reveal (space.com)

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