Watch Bright Flash Appear on Jupiter After Suspected Collision With Space Object

Space is equally mesmerising and dangerous. While one gazes up at the sky, marvelling at the beauty of the stars, asteroids are crashing into planets, planets are being devoured by stars, and stars are exploding or being swallowed by black holes. Despite the perceived negativity, these violent incidents are important for science.

A group of amateur astronomers has observed a bright flash on Jupiter, which reportedly appeared after the gas giant was hit by an unknown object, ScienceAlert reported.

Space agencies are conducting an in-depth analysis in order to confirm that the collision took place as well as to establish the identity of the "perpetrator", but according to the European Space Agency, the bright flash suggests that the object was fast and large.

A similar collision event occurred in 2019. Back then, scientists determined that the celestial object that hit Jupiter was between 40 and 50 feet in diameter and weighed around 450 tons.

The black spot on the right (seen in the video below) is the shadow of Jupiter’s moon Io, while the bright spot is Io itself.

If astronomers confirm that the gas giant was hit by an object, it would be the eighth impact observed on Jupiter since the infamous 1994 strike of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.

Why is it Important?

As mentioned earlier, these dangerous incidents in space can be quite important for scientists, because while observing them, researchers get new information that can be used to make scientific discoveries. For example, when Shoemaker-Levy 9, or rather what was left of it, smashed into Jupiter at the break-neck speed of 37 miles per second, it left dust floating on top of Jupiter’s clouds.

After observing the planet for a while, researchers noticed that the dust spread across the gas giant, and this detail allowed scientists to track high-altitude winds on Jupiter for the first time.