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Explosion on Jupiter Spotted by Amateur Astronomers

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An apparent impact on Jupiter early Monday (Sept. 10) created a fireball on the planet so large and bright that amateur astronomers on Earth spotted the flash.

via space.com

pretty cool, makes you wonder how often this happens without us noticing.
and also lucky for is that we were missed.


[edit]
scale earth/jupiter for perspective.

*via wikipedia
 
Wow that's pretty amazing. For some reason the gas giants fascinate me the most out of all the planets. So massive and mysterious.
 
It's really a total mindfuck how isolated we are when you (attempt) to comprehend how, well, endless the universe is.

This is something that happened in our SS; what is happening in places we don't or can't even know of yet? Truly mind-boggling, also a bit frightening if you think about it.

I mean for all we know something that has happened in another galaxy could have been just enough to keep some kind of event from triggering in ours, which would have wiped everything out, and we have no fucking idea what it would have been or how it would have happened.

Despite all of our advancements here on Earth we are truly without a clue, completely naked. Just... scary.
 
It's really a total mindfuck how isolated we are when you (attempt) to comprehend how, well, endless the universe is.

This is something that happened in our SS; what is happening in places we don't or can't even know of yet? Truly mind-boggling, also a bit frightening if you think about it.

I mean for all we know something that has happened in another galaxy could have been just enough to keep some kind of event from triggering in ours, which would have wiped everything out, and we have no fucking idea what it would be or how it would have happened.

Or an astroid hit a highlt populated planet, like earth, 987236984769823 billion ly away and annihalated all living things.
 
Probably means that there wasn't any advanced life hiding on Jupiter (at least on that part), otherwise they would have deflected whatever it was.

Unless it was an enormous Hydrogen bomb exacerbated by the hydrogen based atmosphere.
 
Or an astroid hit a highlt populated planet, like earth, 987236984769823 billion ly away and annihalated all living things.
And really, given the size of the universe (essentially endless) this could be happening every single day to planets with life, it's just not our turn yet.
 
I think with the Mass + Velocity + Impact crashing into a Gas Giant such as Jupiter, created a bigger chain reaction (Explosion's Diameter) than the actual objects size.
 
I think with the Mass + Velocity + Impact crashing into a Gas Giant such as Jupiter, created a bigger chain reaction (Explosion's Diameter) than the actual objects size.

When impact, doesn't it have to do much with density in the object it crasches?

Since Jupiter would float in a big enough ocean... the density isn't so dense.
 
That's crazy! Must of been one big explosion. I wonder what's happening on Jupiter right now...



The crazy thing is, in War of the Worlds the first signs of the Martian invading Earth was massive explosions on Mars (the ships taking off).

Lucky it wasn't on Mars...
 
But isn't this type of thing very usual?

I mean, I know from my elementary school astronomy workshops how Jupiter basically serves as a giant *vacuum-cleaner* for the planets in its vicinity, especially for Earth.

We learned how Jupiter is the most important part of the puzzle for actual development of life on Earth, because its gravity and position is *sucking* majority of objects that would potentially end on another planets, Earth included. Majority of objects that does not get obliterated by Sun are being devoured by Jupiter.

I see nothing strange with this "explosion". Or am I wrong?
 
Jupiter, saving our asses time and time again.

Amateur astronomer George Hall was actually filming Jupiter when the flash occurred. On Hall's website, he describes happening upon Peterson's forum post, and deciding to go back and examine the videos he had collected early yesterday morning. The image featured up top (and again, below, without text), is a screenshot from the footage that he captured.

"We'll have to wait and see if a dark spot develops inside the southern regions of the NEB over the next day or two," writes Peterson in his forum post. These spots, according to Cosmic Log's Alan Boyle, would be "a sure sign" that an asteroid or comet had been drawn to the planet by its strong gravitational tug. But here's something I was surprised by: according to Boyle, Jupiter may have just saved Earth — or some other planet — from its own impact event. This is the third time since 2009 amateur astronomers have witnessed an impact flash on Jupiter. The massive gas giant, which exerts considerable gravitational pull, is something of a cosmic whipping boy in our solar system, regularly shielding inner planets like Earth from potential collisions. Writes Boyle:

"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".
 
But isn't this type of thing very usual?

I mean, I know from my elementary school astronomy workshops how Jupiter basically serves as a giant *vacuum-cleaner* for the planets in its vicinity, especially for Earth.

We learned how Jupiter is the most important part of the puzzle for actual development of lie on Earth, because its gravity and position is *sucking* majority of objects that would potentially end on another planets, Earth included.

I see nothing strange there? Or am I wrong?

it's an explosion the size of the earth, what more do you want
 
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