New NASA Images Indicate Object Hits Jupiter

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-112

New NASA Images Indicate Object Hits Jupiter
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
July 20, 2009

[Image]
Jupiter This image shows a large impact shown on the bottom left on
Jupiter's south polar region captured on July 20, 2009, by NASA's
Infrared Telescope Facility in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Credit:
NASA/JPL/Infrared Telescope Facility

Scientists have found evidence that another object has bombarded
Jupiter, exactly 15 years after the first impacts by the comet
Shoemaker-Levy 9.

Following up on a tip by an amateur astronomer that a new dark "scar"
had suddenly appeared on Jupiter, this morning between 3 and 9 a.m.
PDT
(6 a.m. and noon EDT) scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
in
Pasadena, Calif., using NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility at the
summit
of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, gathered evidence indicating an impact.

New infrared images show the likely impact point was near the south
polar region, with a visibly dark "scar" and bright upwelling
particles
in the upper atmosphere detected in near-infrared wavelengths, and a
warming of the upper troposphere with possible extra emission from
ammonia gas detected at mid-infrared wavelengths.

"We were extremely lucky to be seeing Jupiter at exactly the right
time,
the right hour, the right side of Jupiter to witness the event. We
couldn't have planned it better," said Glenn Orton, a scientist at
JPL.

Orton and his team of astronomers kicked into gear early in the
morning
and haven't stopped tracking the planet. They are downloading data now
and are working to get additional observing time on this and other
telescopes.

This image was taken at 1.65 microns, a wavelength sensitive to
sunlight
reflected from high in Jupiter's atmosphere, and it shows both the
bright center of the scar (bottom left) and the debris to its
northwest
(upper left).

"It could be the impact of a comet, but we don't know for sure yet,"
said Orton. "It's been a whirlwind of a day, and this on the
anniversary
of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Apollo anniversaries is amazing."

Shoemaker-Levy 9 was a comet that had been seen to break into many
pieces before the pieces hit Jupiter in 1994.

Leigh Fletcher, a NASA postdoctoral student at JPL who worked with
Orton
during these latest observations said, "Given the rarity of these
events, it's extremely exciting to be involved in these observations.
These are the most exciting observations I've seen in my five years of
observing the outer planets!"

The observations were made possible in large measure by the
extraordinary efforts of the Infrared Telescope Facility staff,
including telescope operator William Golisch, who adroitly moved three
instruments in and out of the field during the short time the scar was
visible on the planet, providing the wide wavelength coverage.

JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena.

Carolina Martinez 818-354-9382
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.