Jupiter Hit By Space Object July 19, 2009

So I found out the yesterday that Jupiter had been hit by another object. It was noticed by amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley in Australia on Sunday, July 19. This is the second time that Jupiter has been observed being hit, the fist being Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9’s impact in 1994.

To put this into perspective, because one can be deceived as to the scale we are talking about, the impact area is as big as the Pacific Ocean. Chew on that for a minute. If something that size had hit Earth we would all be dead.

If this doesn’t scare the hell out of people nothing will. Scientist have already announced that asteroid 2004 MN4 will pass so close to Earth on April 13, 2029 that it will go between Earth and communications satellites on orbit. That is damn close and so close that scientist can’t be sure it won’t hit Earth. Here’s a photo for scale:

It doesn’t take a lot of thinking to get to this point: