On September 10, amateur astronomer George Hall caught an impactor – likely a gravitationally captured asteroid or comet – vapourising in Jupiter’s atmosphere.
It is likely the impactor was quite large to produce such a visible result, but the numbers aren’t in yet.
The after effects will also be telling.
The largest impactors, such at the 1994 comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, leave black marks on Jupiter’s atmosphere.
Jupiter experiences a greater number of impactors than Earth since its mass provides a strong gravitational pull on passing objects.
Jupiter is even credited with clearing space that would otherwise be filled with Earth-bound debris.
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