Jupiter, the largest gas giant in the solar system, was just slammed by an asteroid, according to an initial tweet from ESA Operations. As the strongest gravitational force next to the sun, this isn't that uncommon.22-Sept-2021
Did something just crash into Jupiter?
In 1994, the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9) impacted Jupiter, which had captured the comet shortly before (and broken apart by its gravity). The event became a media circus as it was the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of Solar System objects.
What smashed into Jupiter 2021?
The astronomer thinks that the collision likely involved a small asteroid or a fragment of a comet that slammed into the gas giant's atmosphere. Despite the brightness of the flash, the size of the asteroid is thought to have been a few to tens of meters in diameter based on preliminary estimates.
What smashed into Jupiter?
The most famous incident took place in 1994 when fragments of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet collided with Jupiter. The comet had been orbiting Jupiter for nearly a decade before Jupiter's gravity tore it to shreds, breaking it apart into 20 fragments.
What planet crashed into Earth?
Theia Theia is a hypothesized ancient planet in the early Solar System that, according to the giant-impact hypothesis, collided with the early Earth around 4.5 billion years ago, with some of the resulting ejected debris gathering to form the Moon.
How big was the comet that killed the dinosaurs?
The asteroid was about 7.5 miles (12 kilometers) in diameter and was traveling about 27,000 mph (43,000 km/h) when it created a 124-mile-wide (200 km) scar on the planet's surface, said Sean Gulick, a research professor at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, who led the study.
Is Jupiter a failed star?
"Jupiter is called a failed star because it is made of the same elements (hydrogen and helium) as is the Sun, but it is not massive enough to have the internal pressure and temperature necessary to cause hydrogen to fuse to helium, the energy source that powers the sun and most other stars.
Will the Earth hit the Sun?
If Earth is not destroyed by the expanding red giant Sun and the Earth is not ejected from the Solar System by violent relaxation, the ultimate fate of the planet will be that it collides with the black dwarf Sun due to the decay of its orbit via gravitational radiation, in 1020 (Short Scale: 100 quintillion, Long …
Will the Moon eventually crash into the Earth?
Long answer: The Moon is in a stable orbit around Earth. There is no chance that it could just change its orbit and crash into Earth without something else really massive coming along and changing the situation. The Moon is actually moving away from Earth at the rate of a few centimetres per year.
What survived the dinosaur extinction?
Birds Birds: Birds are the only dinosaurs to survive the mass extinction event 65 million years ago. Frogs & Salamanders: These seemingly delicate amphibians survived the extinction that wiped out larger animals. Lizards: These reptiles, distant relatives of dinosaurs, survived the extinction.