Posted on June 4, 2010 by by Captcha

News.com.au is reporting that Canberra amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley has reported a giant cosmic hit on the surface of Jupiter again.

Mr Wesley, a computer programmer from Canberra, alerted the collision to sky-gazers yesterday. The discovery was later confirmed by another amateur astronomer in the Philippines.

“The fireball lasted about two seconds and was very bright.”

Mr Wesley, 44, who has described Jupiter as “his passion”, sprung to fame last July when NASA scientists credited him with spotting a scar the size of the Pacific Ocean near Jupiter’s south pole.

Source: News.com.au

The following information comes from Nasa 

Hubble Images Suggest Rogue Asteroid Smacked Jupiter

“Without warning, a mystery object struck Jupiter on July 19, 2009, leaving a dark bruise the size of the Pacific Ocean. The spot first caught the eye of an amateur astronomer in Australia (Anthony Wesley), and soon, observatories around the world, including NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, were zeroing in on the unexpected blemish.”

“Astronomers had witnessed this kind of cosmic event before. Similar scars had been left behind during the course of a week in July 1994, when more than 20 pieces of Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9) plunged into Jupiter’s atmosphere. The 2009 impact occurred during the same week, 15 years later.”

“Astronomers who compared Hubble images of both collisions say the culprit may have been an asteroid about 1,600 feet (500 meters) wide.”

“The 2009 strike was equal to a few thousand standard nuclear bombs exploding, comparable to the blasts from the medium-sized fragments of SL9. The largest of those fragments created explosions that were many times more powerful than the world’s entire nuclear arsenal blowing up at once.”

“This event beautifully illustrates how amateur and professional astronomers can work together.�

Tweet