Asteroid Slams Into Giant Gas Planet Jupiter, Here's What Happened

An astronomer last month captured a flash in Jupiter's atmosphere which was nearly Earth’s size compared to the giant gas planet’s size. Astronauts now have come to the conclusion that the flash was caused by a small asteroid. The 1.5-second flash on August 7 was captured by Ethan Chappel using a telescope. Jupiter Moon has the same brightness as that of the flash during peak.

“Ramanakumar Sankar and Csaba Palotai of the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) analysed the data to estimate that the flash could have been caused by an impact from a stony-iron asteroid between 39 and 52 feet (12 and 16 meters) in diameter,” according to a CNET report.

Ricardo Hueso, a physicist said that the impact appears to be the second brightest of the six captured since 2010.

Also Read: Asteroid alert: NASA spots ‘Potentially Hazardous’ Space Rock 1998 FF14 Inching Towards Earth On This Day, May Hit Us 

"Most of these objects hit Jupiter without being spotted by observers on Earth," Hueso said. "However, we now estimate 20 to 60 similar objects impact with Jupiter each year." 

Also Read: Asteroid alert: NASA spots ‘Potentially Hazardous’ Space Rock 1998 FF14 Inching Towards Earth On This Day, May Hit Us 

It is also known to the scientist that 800,000 years ago, a one-kilometre long asteroid crashed into Earth’s Southeast Asia region.

However, it is still a matter of study how the humans at that time survived such huge impact. It may be because humans are much smarter than dinosaurs gave them a edge when it comes to surviving asteroid attack.

In 2016, a NASA scientist warned that the Earth is unprepared for such an event. In April 2018, the B612 Foundation reported "It's 100 per cent certain we'll be hit , but we're not 100 per cent sure when." Also, in 2018, physicist Stephen Hawking, in his final book Brief Answers to the Big Questions, considered an asteroid collision to be the biggest threat to the planet. 

Asteroid impact avoidance comprises a number of methods by which near-Earth objects (NEO) could be diverted, preventing destructive impact events. A sufficiently large impact by an asteroid or other NEOs would cause, depending on its impact location, massive tsunamis, multiple firestorms and an impact winter caused by the sunlight-blocking effect of placing large quantities of pulverized rock dust, and other debris, into the stratosphere.

According to expert testimony in the United States Congress in 2013, NASA would require at least five years of preparation before a mission to intercept an asteroid could be launched.