Two objects in the solar system sponge up errant junk that is unable
to find its way to a stable circular orbit and cease being a threat.
That is Jupiter and the Sun.
So once again a significant object exploded and glowed on the way in.
I suspect that we get to see most of these events because such
objects will be leaving a close passage with the sun in all
likelihood.
It is also a reminder that there is actually plenty of junk out there
and that Jupiter does most of the housekeeping for us.
Flash spotted on
Jupiter: Is it a hit?
A photograph of
Jupiter captured a flash on the surface of the massive planet, which
is believed to be the impact of a comet or asteroid. NBC's Brian
Williams reports.
By Alan Boyle
Astronomers are abuzz
over sightings of a flash on Jupiter — which suggests that the
giant planet has taken another bullet for the solar system team.
Monday's report
follows Jovian impacts in 2009 and 2010. As in those earlier
cases, the call has gone out to look for any visible scars on
Jupiter's cloud tops. That would be a sure sign that an asteroid or
comet was drawn in by the planet's gravitational pull, potentially
saving us from a cosmic collision threat.
"It's kind of a
scary proposition to see how often Jupiter gets hit," said
George Hall, an amateur astronomer from Dallas who captured the
flash on video this morning.
Hall didn't actually
see the hit when it happened. Early Monday morning, he brought out
his 12-inch Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with the Point Grey
Flea3 video camera attached, just to capture imagery for a composite
picture of Jupiter. "Jupiter happens to be ideally
positioned at about 6 o'clock in the morning," he explained.
"It's right overhead."
That also just
happened to be the time when another amateur astronomer from Oregon,
Dan Petersen, made a visual observation of the flash. Peterson
didn't capture an image of the flare, which lasted only a couple of
seconds, but he did send his sighting report to other astronomers.
"I decided to
just observe on this particular morning," he said in an email to
Philippine amateur astronomer Christopher Go. "Had I been
imaging I probably would have missed it while playing with webcam
settings and focusing."
Go relayed Peterson's report to the Association of Lunar and
Planetary Observers' Jupiter forum, which set the place buzzing. Hall
noticed the online hubbub and went back to review the video file on
his computer. "I never would have looked" if it
weren't for Petersen's report, Hall told me. The time stamp on
Hall's video matched up with Petersen's observations — 6:35
a.m. CT, which is 7:35 a.m. ET or 11:35 GMT.
Hall reported his
find, and shared in the accolades from fellow amateurs.
Universe Today's Nancy
Atkinson quotes amateur astronomers as saying that the impact
area should come back into view starting at about 1 a.m. ET Tuesday.
Jupiter impacts are of
great interest to astronomers, amateur and professional, because
they're part of the orbital billiards game that has shaped our solar
system. In some cases, the cosmic interloper is destroyed before it
has any visible effect on Jupiter's cloud tops. In weightier cases,
the object breaks up and leaves black marks on the planet's
atmosphere. The case of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1994 is
the most notable in recent memory.
Beyond the planetary
science, there's the "phew" factor: Astronomers suspect
that giant Jupiter's gravitational pull serves as a cosmic
shield, sweeping up incoming objects that would have a deadlier
effect if they were to slam into our planet. Some scientists say that
without Jupiter, life on Earth wouldn't have had much of a chance.
How big was the object
that caused Monday's flash? Stay tuned: We may get a better fix on
that once astronomers get a follow-up look. But Hall probably won't
be among the legions keeping watch on Tuesday morning. He's lost
enough sleep over the past couple of nights.
I'm almost 70 years
old," he told me, "and it takes a lot out of me to get up
at 4:30 or 5."
Update for 1:25 p.m.
ET Sept. 11: So far, observers have seen no conclusive sign of a
scar left behind on Jupiter by the flash, going by the chatter on
the ALPO Jupiter forum and the Cloudy Nightswebsite.
Update for 3:15 p.m.
ET Sept. 11: Hall has posted a must-see video of the flash
on Flickr. But don't bother popping the popcorn: The video clip is
just four seconds long.
More cosmic
collisions:
- 2009: Comet may have hit Jupiter
- 2009: See Jupiter's Great Black Spot
- 2010: Something hit Jupiter ... again!
- 2010: What whacked Jupiter? A meteor
- 2010: Yet another news flash from Jupiter
- 2011: Comet impacts scar rings of Jupiter and Saturn
Tip o' the Log
to Universe Today.
Alan Boyle is
NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic
Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook
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Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as
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in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for
Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and
the search for new worlds.
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