Jupiter Might Have Gotten Hit By an Asteroid

Astronomers are reporting that Jupiter might have gotten struck by an asteroid today. The part that was struck has rotated behind the planet, so we won't be able to know if it got bruised or not for a few hours.

If we're lucky, we'll see another bruise on the surface of Jupiter, similar to what happened with Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. That would be a valuable opportunity for planetary scientists to study Jupiter's internal material.

The source for this is Heidi B. Hammel, a renowned planetary astronomer with the Space Science Institute, so it's worth watching.

The area will be visible again at 10 pm PDT / 1 am EDT (05:00 UTC)

Update: Here's a second source image of the same impact, so that's starting to sound confirmed. http://georgeastro.weebly.com/jupiter.html

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