Hubble Images Suggest Rogue Asteroid Smacked Jupiter

Thursday, June 3, 2010 - 09:20 in Astronomy & Space

NASA Hubble Space Telescope snapshots revealed an impact scar on Jupiter fading from view over several months between July 2009 and November 2009. Based on comparison of Hubble images of Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9's assault on Jupiter in 1994, astronomers say the intruder in the 2009 event may have been a rogue asteroid about 1,600 feet (500 meters) wide. The 2009 images may show for the first time the immediate aftermath of an asteroid striking another planet.

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