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Subscribe to RSSA 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.
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 Nights website.
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 page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email 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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Thank you Jupiter...you rock!
Well, you really can't look at it as though a hit on Jupiter is saving Earth. With every hit it takes, by pulling in an object with its gravity, there are even more misses in which Jupiter's gravity has altered the course of an object.
True. In the late 60's (probably) the comet shoemaker-levy was pulled from its solar orbit ad captured as a satellite of Jupiter. On July 7, 1992, it passed so close to Jupiter that tidal forces ripped it apart. Finally, between July 16 and July 22, 1994 at least 20 fragments of the comet impacted Jupiter, causing visible storms that lasted months.
The famous planetary geologist (and great guy), Gene Shoemaker is often given credit (along with David Levy) for its discovery. Gene told me that he had nothing to do with it, and that it was solely his wife Carolyn who deserved (shared) credit for its discovery.
Great job George Hall!!! Excellent capture. Jupiter is a beautiful sight in the morning these days. Saw her this morning close to Orion.
There is life out there but humans will not see or hear from them, And you ask why not ? The answer is simple, Humans destroy everything they have, Your planet, Your selves, And even if you had faster than light drive, The odds are very great that you will destroy your world long before you have light drive, Humans can do wonderful things I have seen it, But for the most part killing your planet and killing your selves far out weighs the good, You will never leave your solar system, You are like children in a mine field, You have no idea what you are doing and the wrong step will be your last, Sad but true.
We will not see it because there are a few amongst us who are too greedy to allow other people to have meaningful lives and there are a lot of us who are sheep that believe anything the few says. So, yes, we will probably destroy ourselves but it's not because we are the evil creatures your comment pose. More likely because we are too lacking in common sense to defend the things we should value.
Glass half empty eh? Man I'll bet you're a blast at parties...
"God laughing at man, humans are destructive" WTF. Why do so many crazy people read (and post) in a science blog?
Been that way since early days of religion. Hec it used to be that scientists were put to death!
He/she was probably just trolling.. And you fell for it if so.
Rtypo, read on. They are not all trolling or joking. Its scary out there.
A big comet hit Jupiter several years ago and this could well be another example. It probably happens frequently but we don't usually catch it. This is the first era of amateurs having decent sized telescopes to see such events so this latest observation won't be the last.
Yes, that may be true ... this may happen more often than we think, but someone just has to have a camera in the right place at the right time to catch it.
This is totally true. I feel liberated since I bought my first telescope this year, just a small 4.5 inch dobsonian reflector, but I've enjoyed it a lot. Got a great view of Jupiter about a month ago with all 4 moons on the right side! along with a cresent Venus. I was also able to share it with my family who had never used a telescope before. Even with such a small small apperature, I feel included in a community that values true science over unsupported opinion. So while I will eventually upgrade to a bigger scope, the fact that quality scopes are becoming more affordable and more available means that we are just starting a new era of scientific discovery. For example, even amatuer astronomers are contributing to the search for exoplanets, good enough equipment that they can do it from their back yards.
Nah, it was just Mitt taking a photo...
Gee cant imagine what great mind had the perception to put the planets in order other than ALLMIGHTY GOD.
Basic rules of physics? The heavier rocks gravitated closer to the sun? Sorry if basic explanations ate too much for you without any spiritual elements thrown in.
How lucky are we that we live on the one planet far enough from the sun but not too far for us to live on...but also have a large planet out there protecting us from collisions... And don't tell me we evolved to adapt to the Earth's temperature...if that were true, there would be life on all the other planets that had adapted to their temperatures...but only Earth has life...and a planet protecting us... We're quite lucky...and in my experience, there is no such thing as luck.
Can I ask you two something? Would it even pay for anyone to give you a science lesson? An explanation of how scientifically we as humans are able to understand what we do today? Or would that be a waste of time since you attribute everything you don't understand to god, and that is good enough to live on? Just curious..
Pertty much would be a waste of time. People like DietrichtheKaiser don't need no stinkin science - they got the untarnished word of god. No evidence will ever overwrite those words...
What troubles me is that I can understand someone wanting to be religious. Not me, but to each his own. But when you get posts like the ones about implying that there is no need for scientific explanation, that tells me that still today we have people that want to live in a world filled with fantastical beliefs. I would think that even if someone is religious, they would still want to learn more.
Just my thoughts I guess.
DietrichtheKaiser
We're quite lucky...and in my experience, there is no such thing as luck.
Yep...you're a smart one.
Dietrich,
We sure are lucky. This planet was so perfectly "designed". Oh, except for the earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, and diseases.
Whoops.
:-(
Jupiter got the new interstellar DNA on the meteor/asteriod not us.
How about this guys... the planets are in constant movement. They align with each other very infrequently and for short periods of time. Therefore Jupiter, or any other planet, can take a hit for the team only when it is in the way of a meteor, comet or what have you when the object is occupying a small window in space and Jupiter is there by chance. So life on Earth has nothing to do with Jupiter. It was dumb luck, or God, or ET, who got things going here.
Who knows, maybe those flashes are the ETs from Jupiter trying to get out but blowing up like fish when taken out of deep water too quick.
Jupiter takes hits, Earth is just the right size, distance from the sun, and the moon to help it with the seasons, it just seams like intelligent creation. Just like when we see something "complex" made by human hands like a clock, we dont imagine it just appeared, someone intelligent made it, same things with the universe, from galaxies, starts, planets, small forms of life, everything very complex, precise, everyhting fitting just right. Intelligent Creation, even most scientists agree... some just dont say it or bye bye job. The more you study and the more you try to understand the more you will realize that everything didnt come into existence by itself.
And what made that intelligent someone?
We are slowly but surely answering all the questions about the Universe, but just because we don't know everything yet, doesn't mean you should insert intelligent design/God (as much as you may like it to seem so), because what would be the point of discovering new things if, thanks to God, we already "know"?
Look at the universe like a puzzle. It's a jumble of pieces, very chaotic. But, sometimes, for a fleeting moment, some of those pieces fit together, and life can develop. We are living in one of those fleeting moments. Not too long ago Earth was inhospitable, and soon enough, it will be once again.
Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck are not impressed.
more signs that the good guys are coming in to save the humans from the inslavement on planet earth? I sure hope so. tick-tock.
No matter what we as humans read or do here on Earth today this should be the most important story on the planet. Not since the day the media recorded the live images of Neil Armstrong landing on the moon did the human race bond as one for one single moment and see just how small we really are. It's sad it will take something such as the news of a mertorite on target torward Earth to make us all bond as one again instead of a planet of nations. When that day comes the leading astronomers will be the most important people on this planet and only then will we give them the respect and full attention they deserve for their constant monitoring of the stars above every one of us take such little notice of...
This is very cool, and they need to watch for more in case this rock wasn't alone. If it was an asteroid I mean.
Done by an Amateur. Good Catch! If it were not seen by someone it would be just another day!
A lot of these types of discoveries are done by amateurs.
I do some observing from a local amateurs observatory. We have a member (Tom Reiland) there who is co-credited with finding supernova 2011dh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_2011dh). I was there the night he discovered it but wasn't there at the time he noticed it, that pesky having-to-go-to-work-in-the-morning thing, you know. Anyway, he notice that there was something amiss in M51 and did some checking and finally reported it to the IAU that evening. Others had caught images of the supernova earlier than he did but he seems to be the one who eyed it up first. Amazing to me that he knew M51 well enough to notice something like that being unusual. A great talent, to be sure.
I went back up to the observatory the next night after hearing of his find. It was really neat to get to see something that probably less than a hundred other people on the planet had seen at that point in time.
Tom was a professional astronomer but was retired at the time of the sighting. There's a lot of work of this nature that amateurs can carry out. They're a greatly dedicated bunch. Don't underestimate the work of the citizen scientist. Everyone with an honest interest in science can bring something to the public even if it's not an Earth (or Jupiter) shattering discovery.
Jupiter's mass has probably increased two-fold since the solar system was formed from repeated hits by large meteors and even entire planets. There is no way to know for sure if it also got hit by a Mars sized planet as Earth did (which formed the moon). In Jupiter's case that Mars sized planet would have simply been swallowed up without creating a Jupiter-moon system like it did on Earth.
thats interesting to see...just like the pics i took of the sun yesterday at the beach...looks like nibiru hidden by the sun...check it out if ya dont believe me
Just a subtle little reminder from the universe to stop and smell the roses each and every day. Each morning we awake is a blessing. Don't waste it and don't hate, because you just never know...
If this event took place at 6:35 am this morning, as the story leads me to believe, then wouldn't the next view be 1 am Wednesday since 1 am Tuesday has already passed? Journalists today are really becoming lazy.
Or, DD, is it a certain reader who has become lazy? (Or missed the detail of the time stamp at the top of the story?)
This event happened early on Monday morning, and became a news item in the astronomy community by mid-day on Monday.
Alan posted this article late Monday night.
It is you, dear DD, who have assumed that the events being described are from today.
Now, perhaps Alan could have better stressed that this was a Monday event for anyone who missed the time stamp at the top of the story; and in retrospect I'd guess that Alan would submit to a wet noodle lashing for that very slight omission (particularly when facing the opposing pressure of "get the story right / get the story out fast").
Regardless, I strongly disagree with your characterization of Alan as a lazy journalist.
Since it was you, DD, who is mistaken, may we look forward to your humble apology to Alan?
No need for apology, that's not a bad idea to make it Monday ... Thanks, Michael
Well said. Good old Jupiter, always ready to take a hit for us.
Thank you, Jupiter!!
Hopefully, it is just Michael Moore up there, trying to signal us with his flashlight that he wants to come back to Earth. He discovered there are no donuts on Jupiter.
LMAO!!
Amazing how Jupiter is positioned just right to ROUTINELY protect Earth from apocalyptic collisions. It's almost as if someone designed it that way........
"...positioned just right..."? Really? So, move Jupiter a mile or so either way and this wouldn't work?
More like - "it's almost as if nearly EVERY SOLAR SYSTEM WE'VE DISCOVERED also has Jupiter-sized worlds, so this must be a natural consequence of how stars and planets are formed."
Naw, it couldn't be that....
Didn't do the dinosaurs much good. The earth is just a much smaller target and much less massive. Apocalyptic collisions just don't happen every day. This collision is further evidence that the solar system is chaotic, random and not designed. It is the product of natural physics. Our choice is clear, we can look outward and study the universe or we can sit on our collective butts and argue over the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin.
With most religious poeple, the good is always attributed to a loving god ("see - that asteroid didn't hit us because god placed that planet just in the right spot"). Meanwhile, when that planet does not just perfectly block an asteroid, it is conveniently dismissed, or even attributed to that same god, only now he is vengeful ("watch out, or god will punish us for our sinful ways"). I do wish god would make up his mind, lol.
The Fantastic Four saves the day again. Or maybe The Green Lantern
"Amazing how Jupiter is positioned just right to ROUTINELY protect Earth from apocalyptic collisions. It's almost as if someone designed it that way........"
It's not our personal 'vacuum' cleaner. For every impact, there are misses of various nearness, and some of them get deflected to mostly elliptical orbits going into the inner solar system. It's as much a source of danger, as a remover of it.
it's obama's fault..jupiter never got hit while dubya was prez.