On October 15, sky watchers in Japan observed a flash in the atmosphere of the Northern Hemisphere that may have been caused by an asteroid colliding with Jupiter.
Asteroid colliding with Jupiter.
A team of astronomers led by Ko Arimatsu, an astronomer at Kyoto University in Japan, who is involved in the Automated Telescope Project, confirmed these images.
According to a tweet from this project, the observation included two different types of light, visible light and infrared, giving Jupiter a strange pink hue.
Jupiter frequently experiences such impacts due to its strong gravitational force associated with its massive size: Smaller objects, such as asteroids scattered throughout the solar system, can easily be pulled into the planet’s chaotic, thick atmosphere.
Some studies suggest that objects at least 45 meters in length collide with Jupiter on average every few months, although there are observational limitations; even the most thorough monitoring programs may only catch one collision per year.
Observers are still uncertain whether this collision left behind debris that scientists could track.
