We often hear the news that celestial bodies in space constantly collide with our planet or other planets. However, since it is often very difficult to obtain images of these collisions, unfortunately it is not possible for us to see them and we are left wondering. If it is a newly revealed image, it will satisfy your curiosity.
An amateur astronomer in Japan managed to capture video of a comet hitting Jupiter. In the video shared in a tweet earlier this month, a powerful flare is seen on the planet as a result of a super bright comet, or bolide, as such objects are called, hitting the gas giant. Although it was a flash that passed quickly, it’s exciting to see it captured on video.
Of course, Jupiter isn’t the only planet hit by these super-luminous comets. We occasionally see these fireballs hit the Earth, but they usually explode and disintegrate before they can get too far into our atmosphere. Previously, Jupiter has witnessed similar collisions in recent years due to its strong gravitational force.
This particular comet impact is nothing extraordinary compared to what we’ve seen so far; Still, it’s pretty impressive to watch. However, astronomers say the explosion did not cause any damage to Jupiter itself.
昨晩の木星閃光のGIF動画です。 pic.twitter.com/4DC1lFguoi
— 鈴木邦彦 (@kunihiko_suzuki) November 16, 2023
Another comet that hit Jupiter in 1994 left huge scars in the planet’s atmosphere and sent extremely hot plumes into Jupiter’s stratosphere. Of course, the Bolids haven’t posed much of a threat to Earth so far. Also in such a situation, there are programs such as NASA’s DART program to help protect our planet from incoming celestial bodies.
But bolides hitting Earth are not large enough to cause problems, and most of the time they either disappear in the atmosphere or fall into large areas of ocean. This makes it often impossible to find and study them.
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