A fireball in the atmosphere of Jupiter
This image of a fireball, created by the collision of an unknown object with the atmosphere of Jupiter, was obtained by Anthony Wesley on 3 June 2010 at 20:31 from Broken Hill (Australia) using a webcam on his 37 cm aperture home-made telescope. The impact created a short-lived white spot towards the right-hand edge of the disc of the planet. Using these observations, as well as data from ESO’s Very Large Telescope and several other ground-based telescopes, scientists have found that the impacting object seen entering the atmosphere of Jupiter was a meteoroid roughly 8–13 m in diameter.
Credit:Anthony Wesley
About the Image
Id: | ann1059a |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | 9 September 2010, 21:00 |
Related announcements: | ann1059 |
Size: | 816 x 853 px |
About the Object
Name: | Jupiter |
Type: | Solar System : Planet : Type : Gas Giant Solar System : Planet : Feature : Surface : Impact |
Category: | Solar System |
Wallpapers
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Optical R | 650 nm | Other |