Energy

Something Big Just Slammed Into Jupiter [VIDEO]

(REUTERS/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout)

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Andrew Follett Energy and Science Reporter
Font Size:

An amateur astronomer published video evidence of something slamming into Jupiter Sunday.

Austrian Gerrit Kernbauer observed the collision March 17. Kernbauer captured video of an asteroid or comet slamming into the planet. He posted the video on an astronomy forum Sunday evening.

The asteroid or comet likely wasn’t very large and probably measured only a few hundred feet in diameter. Despite its relatively small size, the resulting explosion was probably extremely powerful. Astronomer Phil Plait at the blog Bad Astronomy said the explosion must have caused a “very, very big bang” to be visible from Earth.

Jupiter has a long history of being struck by comets and asteroids.

In 1994, the planet was struck repeatedly by dozens of pieces of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1994, which had been destroyed by Jupiter’s gravity. The planet was struck again in 2009 by what appears to have been a rogue asteroid. Several other hits by small bodies occurred in in June and August of 2010 as well as September of 2012.

Jupiter isn’t the only planet to deal with the impacts of asteroids or comets.

Earlier this month, an asteroid came disturbingly close to EarthIn January, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) created the anti-asteroid Planetary Defense Coordination Office to protect Earth from impacts which could potentially end humanity.

The new office will aggregate American asteroid detection programs and work with international partners such as the Italian Campo Imperatore Near-Earth Object Survey and the Japanese Spaceguard Association.

WATCH:

Follow Andrew on Twitter

Send tips to andrew@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.