RECENT JUPITER IMPACT EVENTS

Authors

Richard W. Schmude, Gordon State CollegeFollow

Abstract

Since 2009, amateur astronomers may have imaged ten impact events on Jupiter. Nine of these are flashes lasting around one or two seconds. Most of these have been imaged by more than one observer in different parts of the world. These flashes are believed to be caused by boulders (5-30 meters across) exploding in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Nine of these events have been images between June 3, 2010 and Oct. 15, 2021. Sized of the impacting objects are estimating by scaling from the Chelyabinsk event that happened on February 15, 2013. This study will examine the frequency of Jupiter impacts at different heliocentric longitudes. It is concluded that impacts are more frequent when Jupiter is at a heliocentric longitude between 300° and 360° than at other longitudes.

Acknowledgements

The writer would like to thank those who submitted images of Jupiter.

Recommended Citation

Schmude, Richard W. (2022) "RECENT JUPITER IMPACT EVENTS," Georgia Journal of Science, Vol. 80, No. 1, Article 33.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.gaacademy.org/gjs/vol80/iss1/33