According to amateur astronomers, a small celestial body has just hit Jupiter.

The strike took place at 01:45 JST on August 29 (August 28 at 16:45 GMT). An account of the Organized Automatic Telescopes for Random Event Research (OASES) project and the Planetary Observing Camera for Optical Transient Surveys (PONCOTS) system, sent a message About an event on X, formerly known as Twitter, reporting a flare observed in Jupiter’s atmosphere. The post also urged observers to check their own footage.

MASA Planetary Log later published images showing a brief flash of light from Jupiter that has been associated with a visible comet or asteroid impact. Another independent observation was made by a Chinese amateur astronomer in the city of Zhengzhou, Henan Province, and showed the glow from the same location in Jupiter’s dense, turbulent atmosphere.

MASA Planetary Log, an amateur space enthusiast account with a particular interest in planets and Earth science, told Space.com that they automatically shoot to record Jupiter’s surface continuously. Flashes are highlighted as brightness and color balance are automatically adjusted in videos posted on X.

“When I woke up this morning and opened X (Twitter), I saw the information that there was a glow on the surface of Jupiter. That night when I checked the time available for the video, I saw a flash.

“I was very lucky to be able to photograph this event when it happened.”

In recent years OASES has participated in a number of Jupiter impact observations. The OASES Twitter account posted a high-resolution image of Jupiter at the time of impact, using data provided by amateurs.

Jupiter often Due to its strong gravity and proximity to the main asteroid belt, it can be subject to cosmic collisions. In particular, fragments of the shattered comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter in 1994, leaving damage to the atmosphere that astronomers could see for months.

The gas giant is thought to play an important role in protecting the inner Solar System from asteroids and comets, absorbing and absorbing impacts, or deflecting potentially dangerous objects further into the Solar System. The presence of Jupiter and Saturn in the solar system contributes to the well-being of life on Earth. Source