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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 very much Jupiter, now we have to lob another one
at them. Shesh!!. And keep Uranus out of the way. J
Of course, for every 'rock' that Jupiter 'eats', another rock is - probably - being thrown at us at the same time.....
We should be taking some of those Nuclear Warheads that we're busilly dismantling - a few from the US, a few from Mother Russia, a few from the NATO Countries, a few from the 'other' BRIC's who have em - and put them aboard a really Big Ion Drive Spacecraft; one like the very, very successful DAWN Probe - currently en route to Ceres, after a year of mapping Vesta from high and low orbit; and send it to several carefully selected Asteroid's, including: a 'rubble pile', a 'Carbonaceous Chondrite', a 'C-Class' (Nickle-Iron); as well as a Cometary fragment or Active Nucleus or two, and then take few "practice shots" with these possible PLANET SAVERS - BEFORE WE EVER HAVE TO TRY AND DO IT FOR REAL!!!!
There are so many things wrong with blowing up a large asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Using said ion engine to nudge it out of the dangerous orbit, or a solar sail or any other non-destructive means is far safer and more likely to be successful, but definitely won't be a movie starring Bruce Willis anytime soon.
It would take a very powerful explosion to utterly destroy an asteroid, probably more than we have the power to create. Real life isn't Buck Rogers, asteroids don't blow up in a cool CGI explosion just in time for your ship to fly through it.
Space is a vacuum, the debris (now smaller pieces) will STILL be headed this way only now instead of one big piece you've made lots of little pieces, which will be significantly harder to deflect or destroy. Some may burn up in Earth's atmosphere, but some won't. Instead of firing a cannon shell at Earth, now your firing grapeshot.
Nudging NEO's out of the way isn't sexy, isn't "made for Hollywood" but is sure a much better idea than brute force.
There's nothing wrong with blowing it up if it's the last resort.
Yes nudging it to a safe course is the preferred way, but that just may not be viable if discovered too late. In that case, if it's big enough to be a hazard, then it's always preferable to do as much damage as possible though explosions.
Mitchell
"There's nothing wrong with blowing it up if it's the last resort."
Nor would it really help, unless it was a fairly small object to begin with.
Having 10,000 tons of gravel enter the atmosphere at once, merely causes a different kind of catastrophic event than a single rock of the same mass.
Heh, it would always help Frank.
The difference between a rock the size of a nice comfy recliner and that of a decent 4 story office building really isn't that much, well, at least on a scale that includes something the size of Mt Everest.
Yet, that recliner burns up in the atmosphere, maybe a pellet makes it to the ground. That office building? Now you are talking about something like Tunguska or better. We really haven't increased that much in size and already we're at something that affected 100's of square miles. Granted, airbursts are a bit different, but we are still only talking about an smaller office building. Huge mess on a local scale, global, doesn't matter.
Now lets take a hill. For sake of reference, let's use Diamond Head since I live next to it. Suppose that came screaming in what would that do? We're talking global catastrophe now, because of the dust kicked up, nuclear winter for several years easily if impacted on land, or every single coastline several miles to hundreds if not over a thousand miles inland if impacted in the middle of an ocean (along with all the problems that the water vapor formed will create too). Not as bad as say Chicxulub, but as far as we are concerned, probably not that much difference.
It escalates quickly. Something like Everest? That is Clixculub.
Now, how much damage can on ICBM create. Well, a lot actually. How many to destroy Diamond Head? One, maybe two? No more than that, and we are taking out an extinction sized piece of rock. If we are dealing with something that several hundred warheads can't deal with, we die if that hits. Localized destruction is always always always preferable to global.
It is always, without fail better to detonate nukes on it than to let it go. Again, the preferred method is to change it's orbit, but failing that, kill it.
Mitchell
Have you people not read "The War of the Worlds"? They are coming!!!!!!!!
With Tom Cruise?
Maybe Tom Cruise is their recon...
Alien spaceship commander to home base.... "Who put this huge gas giant in our way? Navigator, I TOLD you we should have taken a left at Albuquerque"
its sad that a 70 year old hobby astronomer has to find this stuff and not a professional dedicated astronomer. what if this thing missed Jupiter, how long would we have to be notified?
As long as there are more stars in the sky than there are professional astronomers, we will eagerly welcome any and all help from the amateur astro community.
The fact is - astronomy is one of the few areas of science where a serious amateur may still make real and very significant contributions.
It's awesome an amateur can have this kind of impact. No possible way "the professionals" can watch every sector of the sky, hence why dangerous NEO's, and how to find and deal with them, are such big news now.
Joe, it would have been found weeks later, if then, by completely automated systems. Professional astonomers spend only a tiny percentage of their on-the-job time peering through telescope lenses. I'm with Michael. If the amateur in Oregon hadn't been looking at that exact moment, we likely would not even have the photo from the other amateur. I think it's terrific that amateurs can do important work in astronomy and not a sad commentary at all. Well done, guys!
hahaha ha ha ha! harcourt's comment said "this kind of impact". IMPACT! mudd, you are a funny funny man!
Darn, I love puns, I can't believe I missed that when I first read it.
Thanks for pointing that out Ni :)
Harcourt, intentional or not...woo!
Mitchell
residue from the Red Spot hurricane a category 14 - 400 mph+
The Jovians are testing Nuclear Weapons. We need to impose sanctions on them now.
And the Terra-Jovian peace treaty is due to expire next week!
DietrichtheKaiser
We're quite lucky...and in my experience, there is no such thing as luck.
Yep...you're a smart one.
Probably they're having a nuclear war........lol!!!!!
That's only Humans. Jovians are very Jovial... Batum Boom
Gauging this flash to the one reported several years ago when that comet was gobbled up by Jupiter i would roughly estimate that explosion/flash close in diameter to the Earth or at least Mars. Now this is just a rough visual comparison, but MAN i wish i had been watching this morning, but i leave for work at nearly 5:30 am EST. I did see Jupiter shining brightly next to the moon this morning. Such an impressive sight to know that is NOT a star, its a planet.
Maybe the Jupiterians fired their big space cannon
Actually, anything from, or pertaining to Jupiter is 'Jovian...'
Most likely the Jupiter locals have completed the construction of their very own Luxor Casino and were anxious to illuminate the light on the peak!
To me is looks like the reflection of the Exit 5 sign for the Jovian Space Refueling Station on the Intergalactic Spaceway.
So he whipped out his 12" this morning...W T F..I'm sure the author had fun with that line. Actually, somebody just fired up their bong.
Now to go back through film and see if that asteroid or comet can be seen.
Was it small and fast or big and slow (or fast). Apparently we didn't see that one coming.
An interstellar flying saucer salesman probably opened up a new lot.
I think some interstellar tourist decided to let the wife drive for a while.....
Jupiter hit? It was an assassination conspiracy! We know who's behind this rock throwing plot, & we'll beat the truth out of Uranus.
Could always just flush.
It's nice to have a big fat mass around using gravity to suck in the big ones.
Maybe the people on Jupiter have cameras like us that have flashes that don't turn off and that's where the sports stadium is located.
Jupiter by Holst
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0b4STz1lo
Buzz Lightyear drunk flying again...
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! We're all gonna die!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Let's make a deal. I will acknowledge the existence of NEO if Republicans will acknowledge global warming.
Hello Doctor Name Continue Yesterday Tomorrow Hello Doctor Name Continue Yesterday Tomorrow Hello Doctor Name Continue Yesterday Tomorrow Hello Doctor Name Continue Yesterday Tomorrow Hello Doctor Name Continue Yesterday Tomorrow Hello Doctor Name Continue Yesterday Tomorrow Hello Doctor Name Continue Yesterday Tomorrow Hello Doctor Name Continue Yesterday Tomorrow Hello Doctor Name Continue Yesterday Tomorrow Hello Doctor Name Continue Yesterday Tomorrow Hello Doctor Name Continue Yesterday Tomorrow Hello Doctor Name Continue Yesterday Tomorrow Hello Doctor Name Continue Yesterday Tomorrow Hello Doctor Name Continue Yesterday Tomorrow Hello Doctor Name Continue Yesterday Tomorrow
Someone took the memory chips out of HAL again.
Tough room. And "plork," what is that? The other, other, other white meat?
He's the duet singer with Bjork.
Rimshot to TFNJ.
I know that Dr. Chandra's reactivation of HAL in a work of fiction may be stretching the topic a little bit, but as we are discussing Jupiter, and Arthur C. Clarke through his books (and the movies 2001 and 2010) provided so much pop culture awareness about that planet, I thought "Hello Doctor Name Continue Yesterday Tomorrow" would have received a warmer reception on this vine. Nerd that I am (and was in 1986), I had an Apple 2c with the SAM (Software Activated Mouth) program. If you typed in that phrase, it sounded just like HAL's initial recitation of the voice synthesis reconstruction program number 1. Astute moviegoers may recall that Dr. Floyd used an Apple 2c when he was sitting on the beach during the 2010 movie.
Too attenuated? Maybe. But, "yee-haw Jupiter" for taking that hit, whatever it was.
Oh you are not the only one. When I read there was a flash on Jupiter, the Monolith came to mind.
I had an old Commodore that had software that would read text, and it sounded that way too. It would go through reading certain words for calibration, so I got your meaning behind the post.
The thought that a discovery around Jupiter takes us to a new level of understanding is fascinating, and a result of reading Arthur C Clark books. He spurred my imagination.