Revealed: The moment Jupiter is hit by mysterious new object AGAIN as Nasa reveals planet's 'bruise' was caused by rogue asteroid
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:19 AM on 4th June 2010
An amateur astronomer has spotted an object crashing into the surface of Jupiter for the first time.
Anthony Wesley, an Australian computer programmer, spotted a bright flash and alerted professional and amateur sky-gazers to the unique collision.
'When I saw the flash, I couldn't believe it,' said Mr Wesley. 'The fireball lasted about two seconds and was very bright.'
And it comes just as Nasa announced that it had solved the mystery behind a strange 'bruise' on Jupiter which had also been spotted by Mr Wesley.
Mr Wesley gained fame last year when he spotted the scar the size of the Pacific Ocean on Jupiter which is believed to have been caused by an asteroid smacking into the gas giant planet.
Scroll down to watch video of the historic collison
The bright flash of the asteroid crashing into the planet's surface is clearly visible in the top left of the image taken by Anthony Wesley
The latest hit near the equator has not left any visible mark so far, but astronomers are on the lookout.
The absence of a detectable gash and the short impact time have led scientists to believe Jupiter was likely struck by a meteor.
'We've never seen a meteor slam into Jupiter,' said Glenn Orton of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The latest collision should give astronomers a better idea of the size of debris floating in the outer solar system.
The mystery object struck the planet on July 19 last year, leaving a dark scar the size of the Pacific Ocean.
Astronomers have used images from Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope to compare the blemish on Jupiter with similar scar caused by a 1994 comet, and believe a 1,600ft wide asteroid is responsible for the mark.
Bizarrely, the most recent collision occurred exactly 15 years after more than 20 pieces from the Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9) plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere.
Nasa released its analysis of the Hubble images this week, and said the impact of the asteroid would have been similar to several thousand nuclear bombs.
Astronomers believe the culprit was an asteroid about 1,600ft wide and that the 'bruise' shows for the first time the immediate aftermath of an asteroid, rather than a comet striking another planet.
Mr Wesley was using a home-made telescope in the yard of his rural home in Murrumbateman, near Canberra, when he spotted the dark scar last year.
He said that he had discovered the scar in between running inside to watch the final rounds of the British Open golf on television.
'I couldn’t believe it. I thought "That wasn’t there before" and then I realised Jupiter had actually been hit by something,' he said at the time.
The 2009 strike was equal to a few thousand nuclear bombs exploding.
Heidi Hammel of the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, led a team that took pictures of the impact sites using the Hubble.
'This solitary event caught us by surprise, and we can only see the aftermath of the impact, but fortunately we do have the 1994 Hubble observations that captured the full range of impact phenomena, including the nature of the objects from pre-impact observations' she said.
And she said the 2009 impact showed how important work was still being performed by amateur astronomers.
'This event beautifully illustrates how amateur and professional astronomers can work together,' she said.
Nasa said the Jupiter bombardments revealed that the solar system was a 'rambunctious' place.
The gap between the 1994 and 2009 was particularly a surprise as Jupiter impacts were only expected to occur every few hundred to few thousand years.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1283904/Large-bruise-Jupiter-caused-by.html
