Jupiter hit again, 15 yrs after Shoemaker-Levy9 by AURaptor

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Jupiter hit again, 15 yrs after Shoemaker-Levy9

POSTED BY: AURAPTOR
UPDATED: Friday, August 7, 2009 06:09
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Sunday, July 26, 2009 6:14 AM

America loves a winner!

Just heard about this yesterday, and I generally am all over this sort of stuff. Seems no one saw it coming, literally. We found out, after the fact, that 'something' , likely a comet or small meteor , collided w/ Jupiter. I recall back when S/L-9 hit, back in *1994, it was hailed as one of the monumental events in all of astronomy. Witnessing a collision of two celestial bodies. There was a year long build up to that event.

But this time ? Barely a peep. The object left a substantial hole in the Jovian atmosphere, roughly about the size of the Earth.

While this seems to have been overlooked by the mass media, the massive impact of another object w/ Jupiter in such a short time span, on a cosmic time scale, must have astronomy types w/ a quiet uncomfortableness. Many suggest that Jupiter , because of its size and large gravitational pull, has acted as a vacuum cleaner, taking out many asteroids and comets which might otherwise find their way into the inner part of the solar system, and strike our blue rock with more frequency. While that may seem to be the case, it also is quite evident that there's far more floating around out there and potentially putting us in harms way than once thought.

But as long as American Idol is gearing up for another great season......

* Practically to the exact DAY! Shoemaker Levy 9 had been torn apart by Jupiter's gravitational pull when it passed by the planet the previous year. S/L-9 was discovered in March, of 1993, and impacted over a several day period. The first impact, by fragment A, happened on July 16, and the last on July 22.

The most recent impact by this latest mystery object seems to have occurred either on the 17th or 18th of July.

The T.Rex they call JANE!

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Thursday, August 6, 2009 12:36 PM

TEXARCANA

Thank Zaphod for that big vacuum cleaner!

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Thursday, August 6, 2009 12:40 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

Top - mystery impact, July ?, 2009

Bottom - S/L 9, July 16-22, 1994

The T.Rex they call JANE!

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Thursday, August 6, 2009 12:46 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:

Top - mystery impact, July ?, 2009

Bottom - S/L 9, July 16-22, 1994

Amazing at how close both impact areas on , w/ relation to the latitude on Jupiter. Might not be exactly the same, but it's darn close.

The T.Rex they call JANE!

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Thursday, August 6, 2009 12:55 PM

BYTEMITE

Interesting! Almost makes me wonder if this new impact had the same trajectory, that is, if maybe something managed to escape the last time.

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Thursday, August 6, 2009 2:59 PM

FLATTOP

Great find Auraptor!
I agree, the studious types are likely peering a bit more intently along the back path of this latest one, and recalculating hit probabilities in general.

Interesting thought Bytemite. Peculiar that they would hit so near the same latitude unless they were somehow related.

This latest object appears to have punched a bigger 'hole' than any individual in the SL9 series, which makes me think it was bigger (denser? Or more surface area? Or greater volume? all? I dunno). I'm not sure that it could have been overlooked with the number of telescopes focussed on the sequence 15 years ago, but how else to explain it?

Perhaps there is a long train of objects all following the same general trajectory?

Does anyone know if the object was extra-solar in origin?

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Thursday, August 6, 2009 6:33 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
Originally posted by Bytemite:
Interesting! Almost makes me wonder if this new impact had the same trajectory, that is, if maybe something managed to escape the last time.

S/L-9 was first observed a full year before impact, back in 1993. They had figured that had tore apart on the previous pass around Jupiter. If that's the case, it seems unlikely that one very large fragment got so distantly removed from the rest of the original intact comet.

One thing which needs to be understood, that while Earth is in the same spot around the sun, doesn't mean Jupiter is too.

Jupiter takes 11.86 yrs to travel around the Sun. So, what ever was traveling as a part of S/L 9's convoy likely wouldn't show up 15 yrs later. Jupiter is several months out of position from where it was back in late July of '94. If something from that convoy were to some how lag behind, it would have gotten further away from intersecting w/ Jupiter the more time had passed. If it was going to strike, it would have done so w/ all the other fragments, or on the next pass by.

Though I'm no astronomer.

Also, I think Fragment G , at least , was larger than the latest impact.

The T.Rex they call JANE!

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Friday, August 7, 2009 5:57 AM

BYTEMITE

I was thinking that after I posted that, though maybe if a fragment did manage to escape, wouldn't there be some slowing as it passed Jupiter?

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Friday, August 7, 2009 6:09 AM