Jupiter Hit by Comet (PHOTO)Jupiter & Io [1680x1050]" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2041/2040940638_38e12befb6_m.jpg" alt="Jupiter & Io [1680x1050]" width="128" height="80" />

Astronomers say that the planet Jupiter has likely been struck by a comet.

Pictures taken early on Monday morning by NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii reveal a dark scar in Jupiter's atmosphere near the south pole of the planet.

The images also show bright upwelling particles in the atmosphere, detected in near-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,"
JPL scientist Glenn Orton said in a statement released by the lab.

Orton said the event "could be the impact of a comet, but we don't know for sure yet."

jupiter hit by comet Jupiter Hit by Comet (PHOTO)

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