Flash!
On Sept. 13, an asteroid, or icy object, collided with Jupiter's gas giant. It eventually burst in Jupiter's thick clouds. The rare event was captured by Jos Luis Pereira (a Brazilian space photographer), and is displayed in the fascinating footage below.
It measured in excess of dozens of metres (possibly between 120 and 160 feet in width, but it could have been larger or smaller). It traveled at high speed and entered Jupiter's dense atmosphere. There it encountered strong friction and was heated as it passed through the clouds.
Peter Vere, an astronomer with the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian said that "at some point it exploded." This collaborative research group includes the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (Smithsonian) and Harvard College Observatory.
The flash that results is a one- or two-second flash is very similar to what you see when an asteroid of decent size explodes in the atmosphere. This phenomenon is known as an "airburst". According to the European Space Agency, in 2013, a 56-foot-wide rock exploded over Russia. It released "30 times more energy than the Hiroshima nuclear bomb."
Astronomers believe that the object was not too large, at least for the time being. For example, in 1994, huge chunks of the comet Comet ShoemakerLevy 9 broke apart left massive gashes in the Jovian atmosphere lasting for several months.
Paul Byrne is an associate professor of earth- and planetary sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. This collision was 11 times smaller than the planet's, but it didn't cause any significant disruption to Jupiter. Byrne stated that Jupiter is so large it can ignore this.
The bright flash produced by the explosion and impact was evident. Cathy Plesko, a Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist who studies comet and asteroid impacts, explained that this brightness is used by astronomers and other researchers to determine the size of an impacting object. Flashes and explosions that are more powerful occur when larger objects are present.
Even tiny objects can produce vivid flashes. Common shooting stars are a meteor of rice size that is burning up in Earth’s atmosphere. Plesko stated, "That's pretty bright even for a grain rice."
Jupiter is often visited by objects. It is a large target and has a strong gravitational draw. It's not common for anyone to capture it like Pereira, a photographer who has been watching the skies and has captured some Jupiter impacts before. Pereira was able to do this using an amateur telescope and not a space observatory. Byrne noted that it was an "incredible achievement".
Impact footage shows that the solar system is still alive and well at 4.5 billion years of age. There aren't as many large rocks crashing into each other like there were during the chaotic early stages of the solar system's development. Still, collisions can still occur (sometimes very large).
Byrne stated that "it's calmed down quite a bit, but it's still not quiet."
This is a stark reminder of the dangers to Earth from asteroids and other solar system threats. Byrne said that this is cause for concern but not alarm. NASA, federal agencies and international organizations are currently looking for potentially dangerous objects in the solar system. Major extinctions can be caused by large rocks that are half a mile in diameter. These big rocks have been well documented. NASA has so far located approximately 90 percent of these giants. Plesko stated, "We think that we know where they are." We don't know of any that pose an imminent threat to Earth, but we do not believe they will.
Byrne stated that it was extremely unlikely that something huge would strike us out of the blue.
However, many smaller rocks are still a danger. Mashable reported that scientists have yet to find thousands of Near Earth objects (objects located in Earth's vicinity) larger than 460 feet. These rocks can cause destruction in urban areas. A crater measuring 600 feet deep was left in Arizona by an asteroid that is believed to have been between 100 and 170 feet in diameter, 50,000 years ago. NASA's David Kring, an impact expert from the Lunar and Planetary Institute, stated that a similar-sized impact event could have devastating effects on a city as large as Kansas City today.
NASA plans to conduct a historic test of its ability to redirect an "small" asteroid (525 ft across) in 2022. This is called the DART mission. DART's spacecraft is designed for the purpose of crashing into an asteroid and slightly changing its course.
Rocks are abundant in the solar system. One small, but still significant, rock that is burning in Jupiter's atmosphere could be a common occurrence in our space neighborhood. It's amazing to see. It helps astronomers to see exactly what is out there, as it hurtles through the solar system.
