2010 Jupiter impact event
Encyclopedia
The 2010 Jupiter impact event
was a bolide impact event on Jupiter
by an object estimated to be about 8–13 meters in diameter. The impactor may have been an asteroid
, comet
, centaur, extinct comet
, or temporary satellite capture.
Anthony Wesley from Australia. The event was confirmed by Christopher Go at the Philippines, who filmed the event, and has released a video.
The observed flash lasted about two seconds. It was located in the South Equatorial Belt, about fifty degrees from the central meridian. The June 2010 superbolide impactor probably measured between 8–13 meters across, with a mass between 500-2000 metric tons
. Jupiter probably gets hit by several objects of this size each year.
On August 20, 2010 UT
, yet another flash event was detected on Jupiter. As of August 23 two other observers had recorded the same event.
broke apart and collided with Jupiter, resulting in a series of hits. This incident had been predicted in advance.
was observed, which caused a black spot on Jupiter's atmosphere. This unpredicted event was first reported by Anthony Wesley, who also first observed the 2010 event. The 2009 impact has been studied by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope
, and the study suggests that the observed incident was a hit by an asteroid about 500 metres wide.
Impact event
An impact event is the collision of a large meteorite, asteroid, comet, or other celestial object with the Earth or another planet. Throughout recorded history, hundreds of minor impact events have been reported, with some occurrences causing deaths, injuries, property damage or other significant...
was a bolide impact event on Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
by an object estimated to be about 8–13 meters in diameter. The impactor may have been an asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
, comet
Comet
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
, centaur, extinct comet
Extinct comet
Extinct comets are comets that have expelled most of their volatile ice and have little left to form a tail or coma. The volatile material contained in the comet nucleus evaporates away, and all that remains is inert rock or rubble that can resemble an asteroid. Comets may go through a transition...
, or temporary satellite capture.
Observation
The impact happened 3 June 2010, and was recorded and first reported by amateur astronomerAmateur astronomy
Amateur astronomy, also called backyard astronomy and stargazing, is a hobby whose participants enjoy watching the night sky , and the plethora of objects found in it, mainly with portable telescopes and binoculars...
Anthony Wesley from Australia. The event was confirmed by Christopher Go at the Philippines, who filmed the event, and has released a video.
The observed flash lasted about two seconds. It was located in the South Equatorial Belt, about fifty degrees from the central meridian. The June 2010 superbolide impactor probably measured between 8–13 meters across, with a mass between 500-2000 metric tons
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
. Jupiter probably gets hit by several objects of this size each year.
On August 20, 2010 UT
Universal Time
Universal Time is a time scale based on the rotation of the Earth. It is a modern continuation of Greenwich Mean Time , i.e., the mean solar time on the Prime Meridian at Greenwich, and GMT is sometimes used loosely as a synonym for UTC...
, yet another flash event was detected on Jupiter. As of August 23 two other observers had recorded the same event.
Previous impacts
1994 impact
In July 1994 the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 was a comet that broke apart and collided with Jupiter in July 1994, providing the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of solar system objects. This generated a large amount of coverage in the popular media, and the comet was closely observed by...
broke apart and collided with Jupiter, resulting in a series of hits. This incident had been predicted in advance.
2009 impact
On 19 July 2009 an impact2009 Jupiter impact event
The 2009 Jupiter impact event, occasionally referred to as the Wesley impact, was a July 2009 impact on Jupiter that caused a black spot in the planet's atmosphere. The spot was similar in area to the planet's Little Red Spot, approximately the size of the Pacific Ocean...
was observed, which caused a black spot on Jupiter's atmosphere. This unpredicted event was first reported by Anthony Wesley, who also first observed the 2010 event. The 2009 impact has been studied by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
, and the study suggests that the observed incident was a hit by an asteroid about 500 metres wide.