captures amateur astronomer collision of an object with Jupiter – Teletrece

An amateur astronomer captured on 17 March impact of a large object on Jupiter , the largest planet in the solar system.

the Irish John McKeon making observations of the gaseous giant with a 11-inch telescope when saw a bright spot on the surface of the planet , which was a big explosion and whose video posted on the Internet.

the capture ran by chance while filming the transit of the planet’s moons for timelapse.

Austrian Gerrit Kernabeu, another amateur astronomer, made a report with the same sighting.

so far there is no certainty what it was that fell on Jupiter. The most likely case of an asteroid or lesser extent, a comet .

Paul Chodas , manager Center for the Study close to Earth Objects, under the jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA, told Space.com that the most likely have been an asteroid, because they are more common that comets.

the impacts of objects on Jupiter are known in astronomy. In 1994 it was discovered that the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 had entered on a collision course with the planet, which gave time for scientists to prepare your observation.

the gravitational force of Jupiter fragmented comet, which generated a string of impacts left in the huge and visible surface dark scars, which were the size of Earth.

the event was a historic event because for the first time an “alien” collision of this magnitude was observed here in the solar system.

in 2009 an asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier, as estimated astronomers also hit the planet. In 2010 a giant asteroid exploded in Jupiter’s atmosphere producing a large bright spot seen from Earth.

In 2012 an amateur astronomer also captured the impact of an object on Jupiter.

Jupiter is the fifth planet of the Solar System and is part of the group of outer or gaseous planets . It is also the largest celestial body in the solar system with a mass almost two and half times that of the other planets combined and 318 times greater than Earth’s.

His violent atmosphere is It composed mainly of hydrogen and helium and is so dense that scientists have been unable to determine how its surface. A huge anticyclone located in tropical latitudes of the southern hemisphere gives characteristic a big red stain.