Tuesday, July 21, 2009

New impact of comet on Jupiter














A friend sent me this nice link, describing a new impact on Jupiter, by a large object, possibly a comet. The snaps taken by amateur astronomer Wesley, from Australia, show a large black spot the size of the earth on Jupiter's South polar region. See this link for more:
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/amateur-astronomer-finds-new-earth-size-impact-mark-on-jupiter/?ref=global-home

This astrophotograph by Wesley shows the black spot (arrows) in the upper right of Jupiter.
NASA and JPL scientists are still not sure about what it was that caused this massive earth sized scar on this giant planet, but are of the opinion that it might have been a large comet, that evaded their detection.
With all the attention of the world focused on the solar eclipse today (22nd July 2009), few, in the amateur astronomy world are aware of this interesting development.
Joe.

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