Another impact on Jupiter today (2019-08-07 at 04:07 UTC)! A bolide (meteor) and not likely to leave dark debris like SL9 did 25 years ago. Congrats to Ethan Chappel (@ChappelAstro) on this discovery and H/T to Damian Peach (@peachastro) for the report https://t.co/lj38ncBZuI
— Dr Heidi B. Hammel (@hbhammel) August 7, 2019
Jupiter appears to have been recently hit by a meteor massive enough to be seen on Earth. An amateur astronomer named Ethan Chappel captured the moment with nothing more than a background telescope.
Chappel recorded a bright, unexpected flash on the surface of the gas giant Wednesday. Astronomers believe it could have been the impact of a large meteor crashing into the planet.
Chappel compiled the images into a gif showing the apparent moment of impact with a bright flash in the Southern Equatorial Belt. The flash only lasts a moment before fading, further fueling the idea of a possible meteor.
"Imaged Jupiter tonight," Chappel tweeted. "Looks awfully like an impact flash in the SEB."
Dr. Heidi B. Hammel shared Chappel's findings with excitement. "Another impact on Jupiter today!" Hammel wrote. "A bolide (meteor) and not likely to leave dark debris like SL9 did 25 years ago."
More details of this over at CBS News.