NASA’s spacecraft observed a striking flash of light that flickered when a meteor struck Jupiter’s atmosphere at an altitude of 225 km.
Researchers tracking Jupiter’s auroras with NASA’s Juno spacecraft were fortunate enough to record a very bright asteroid explosion last spring, Cnet reported on February 26. The new research is published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Meteorites are not uncommon for Jupiter as it is the largest planet in the solar system and it has high gravity. “However, these events are so short that they are rarely seen. You have to be lucky enough to point the telescope at Jupiter at the right time,” said Rohini Giles, an expert from the Southwest Research Institute. Lead author of the study, mentioned.
Amateur astronomers have used ground-based telescopes to detect six asteroid collisions on Jupiter over the past decade, including one in 2019. Giles and his colleagues have a much greater advantage using Juno, the orbiting spacecraft. of this giant planet.
The team found a flash that stood out in the dataset because it had very different spectral properties than UV rays from Jupiter’s auroras, Giles explained. Examining the brightness and other information, the team suggested that flashes of light emanating from meteorites weighing between 249 and 1,497 kg crashed into the atmosphere about 225 km above the clouds.
Falling objects on Jupiter could cause serious problems. The largest collision on record took place in 1994, “the culprit” was comet Shoemaker Levy 9. “Collisions with asteroids and comets can greatly affect the chemical properties of the stratosphere. 15 years after the event, Shoemaker Levy 9 still contributes 95% of Jupiter’s stratospheric water, so continuing to observe accidents and assess the overall impact is an important measure to better understand the structure of this planet, ”says Giles.
