[imagesource:befunky]

Jupiter acts as the Solar System’s vacuum cleaner, sucking in potentially hazardous objects with its powerful gravity. This video shows why that’s a good thing for Earth.

While objects frequently collide with Jupiter – much more so than any other planet in the Solar System – it’s pretty exceptional for scientists to document the crash in action.

Remarkably, this latest collision was accidentally captured by an amateur astronomer.

The impact was first spotted by the Okinawa-based astronomical observation projects OASES and PONCOTS, prompting a social media post message saying: “If you were observing Jupiter around the same time, please check the shooting data again, and if you find a flash, please report it on TL or DM this account!”

Shortly after, they received a message with some imagery showing the dramatic collision.

“When I woke up in the morning and opened X (Twitter), I saw information that a flash had been observed on the surface of Jupiter. That night, when I checked the video of the corresponding time, I saw a flash,” the person behind the lucky footage wrote.

“I was very lucky to be photographing this phenomenon when it happened.”

There’s currently no information on how large the object was, although it was clearly large enough to cause a major spectacle. Jupiter gets bombarded with celestial objects all the time, but capturing it on video is rare.

A 2013 study suggested that Jupiter gets hit by objects between 5 to 20 metres in diameter around 12 to 60 times every year. Objects larger than 100 metres are likely to impact Jupiter every few years.

Astronomers have captured moments of impact on the gas giant a handful of times. The first instance occurred in 1994 when the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with the gas giant, making history as the first-ever direct observation of two bodies colliding in the Solar System.

Once again, big brother Jupiter is taking the hits so we don’t have to. Thanks Jupe!

きのうのTLで知った木星の閃光、撮影したデータを確認してみたら写っていました。
…声が出ました(^^;
日本時間2023年8月29日1:45、世界時28日16:45です。https://t.co/UYhnvAmA63https://t.co/Y7nCHtJq4k pic.twitter.com/g0FerdyoVg

— MASA Planetary Log (@MASA_06R) August 29, 2023

★木星閃光情報★
2023-08-29 01:45.5(JST)頃
北半球にて閃光現象があったとのことです。
動画撮影されてた方は確認してみて下さい
(*’ω’*)ｾﾝｺｰ
※画像は月惑星研究会石破氏のデータ pic.twitter.com/wOvcl1KriG

— たけちゃん (@10ao1121takechi) August 28, 2023

It may just seem like an itty bitty flash, but if this same object hit Earth, load shedding would be the least of our worries.

[source:ifls&mashable]