Something May Have Just Hit Jupiter

The blog of Anthony Wesley, an Australian amateur astronomer, has what may be the first photos of a recent comet or asteroid impact on Jupiter, near the south pole. These photos are 11 hours old. The ones at the bottom of the page show three small dark spots in addition to the main dark mark. The Bad Astronomy blog picked up the story a few hours later — but cautions that what we're seeing may not be an impact event. This is all reminiscent of the closely watched impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy on Jupiter in 1994.

Comments

thats nice and all

[Anonymous Coward]

but when is it OUR turn :(

Re:thats nice and all

[DigiShaman]

I've often heard Jupiter called the "vacuum cleaner" of space in that it sucks up foreign objects that stray into our solar system. Be thankful we have this planet among us. It's sorta like our protector.

Re:thats nice and all

[ls671]

Well be careful, it could also something like what has happened on the 2010 movie starting to occur, keep on watching maybe this "spot" will propagate to the whole planet then afterward, Jupiter will become our second Sun.
Welcome to true global warming ! ;-))

Re:thats nice and all

[DeusExCalamus]

Well be careful, it could also something like what has happened on the 2010 movie starting to occur, keep on watching maybe this "spot" will propagate to the whole planet then afterward, Jupiter will become our second Sun. Welcome to true global warming ! ;-))

Hail Lucifer!

Re:thats nice and all

[fork_daemon]

I remember watching a Documentary on Earth and the conditions that made it. They called Jupiter our Big Brother for this very protective vacuum cleaner effect.

Re:thats nice and all

[CheshireCatCO]

It's not a vacuum cleaner, it's gravity isn't so powerful as to pull other objects out of orbit per se. Sure, it probably gets hit more than other planets, but that's not that impressive. It fills less of its Hill Sphere than Earth does, so it's more likely to scatter a passing object than absorb it. And a recent study by Grazier and Newman demonstrated that it probably is taking more pot-shots at Earth than it is protecting us.

Re:thats nice and all

[antonyb]

Out of interest, where else have you watched documentaries?

Ant.

Re:thats nice and all

[GameboyRMH]

More like the fat kid in high school that often got in the way of sneak spitball attacks.

Re:thats nice and all

[silent_artichoke]

Folks, let's hear it for Ant. He'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress!

Re:thats nice and all

[Ohrion]

I don't know why, but your comment made me laugh more than any other I've read in a while.

Re:thats nice and all

[Anonymous Coward]

it's gravity isn't so powerful as to pull other objects out of orbit per se.

Actually it's believed that our orbit is not a proper circle around the Sun because the Earth is pulled away from the sun by the massive gravity of Jupiter.

Sure, it probably gets hit more than other planets, but that's not that impressive. It fills less of its Hill Sphere than Earth does, so it's more likely to scatter a passing object than absorb it.

Although the planet has very little solid area the gravity pull objects which enter the atmosphere towards the center preventing them from leaving without enough escape velocity. Other objects are probably also pulled by the gravity of the planet and captured into orbit.

And a recent study by Grazier and Newman demonstrated that it probably is taking more pot-shots at Earth than it is protecting us.

The amount of space in the inner solar system is so massive and the planets are so small that most objects flung into our region of space by Jupiter will not hit anything. Most objects will be pulled by the powerful gravity of the Sun before being drawn to the weak gravity of the planets.

Alternate site for slashdotted article

[Romancer]

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/07/19/possible-new-impact-on-jupiter/

Re:Alternate site for slashdotted article

[Anonymous Coward]

or a coralized link: http://www.acquerra.com.au.nyud.net/astro/ObsReport/jupiter-impact.html

Or may not have

[intx13]

An amateur astronomer puts up pictures on his blog and we're comparing it to Shoemaker-Levy?

Bad Astronomy says "it's jumping the gun to call it an impact event before we get more observations". I've got an idea for the next Slashdot article: "Asteroid heading towards earth - or maybe just spot on lense".

Re:Or may not have

[davester666]

But there's no time. We must launch the shuttle with a bunch of nuclear weapons if we are to be able to divert the asteroid so it will miss the Earth.

Re:Or may not have

[gammaraybuster]

If it is an impact, then what else is there to compare it to? According to the blogger, there was no sign whatever of the event just 2 days earlier. Can a storm arise that quickly out of nothing? In any case, it seems likely that they will soon be able to determine if it is an impact or not.

Re:Or may not have

[Aussie]

An amateur astronomer puts up pictures on his blog and we're comparing it to Shoemaker-Levy?

Bad Astronomy says "it's jumping the gun to call it an impact event before we get more observations". I've got an idea for the next Slashdot article: "Asteroid heading towards earth - or maybe just spot on lense".

Re:Or may not have

[Aussie]

>An amateur astronomer puts up pictures on his blog and we're comparing it to Shoemaker-Levy?

Levy is an amateur, his degree is in english lit. He won an amateur astronomers award.

(what I tried to post last time, bloody web2 crap)

Re:Or may not have

[dmartine40]

I knew something was up with this story. I saw the headline and for a split second thought I was on the Onion!

Re:Or may not have

[Anonymous Coward]

I've got an idea for the next Slashdot article: "Asteroid heading towards earth - or maybe just spot on lense".

Ok, I've submitted it, just after my '2009 is the Year of the Linux Desktop!!1!' article.

Re:Or may not have

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure it wasn't Bobby Knight's?

Re:Or may not have

[Runaway1956]

It could just be a huge zit. Your basic case of acne, brought on by global warming. Those damned humans, and their fossil fuels.

Re:Or may not have

[ozmanjusri]

And I knew I should never have given my girlfriend the keys to the asteroid...

Re:Or may not have

[GreenTech11]

A spot on the lens that conveniently is moving across the lens at exactly the right speed to keep pace with another object on Jupiter? It may not be an impact mark, but it is the result of something, and appeared in only a few days.

Re:Or may not have

[dido]

It's the amateurs that tend to be the first to discover unknown stuff like comets and stuff. The professionals are in general engaged in directed research and do not have the time to be poking around random areas of the sky to see if anything interesting is going on there. As someone mentioned, David Levy is himself an amateur.

Re:Or may not have

[uofitorn]

Did you check who the editor was before reading the submission? I made the same mistake and didn't. When I remember, I usually skip right over kdawson's posts, unless it's a slow work day.

Re:Or may not have

[init100]

Many people seem to think that amateur is a synonym for incompetent.

Re:Or may not have

[Opportunist]

What's worse, many people seem to think that professional is a synonym for competent.

Re:Or may not have

[SlashWombat]

Christ, the Jovians have one little nuclear war, and we think it has been an asteroid impact.

Re:Or may not have

[dintech]

Are you sure? That sounds suspiciously like Chuck Noris' chair rather than something that might belong to Balmer...

Re:Or may not have

[Sique]

Or, as the german philosopher Schopenhauer famously put it:

Dilletants! Dilletants! - so are called those, who are occupied by a Science or an Art out of love to it, per il loro diletto, with disdain by those who do it for profit, because they love only the money which can be earned by it. This disdain is based on the dastard conviction, that nobody would ever seriously take on a subject if not distress, famine, or another greed urges it. The public is of the same spirit and thus has the same opinion: from here comes his respect for "people of the trade", and his mistrust of amateurs. In reality for the amateur the subject is the goal, for the man of the trade as himself it is only means. Only he will carry on with earnest who is immediately interested in the subject and who is occupied with it out of love. From those, not from the paid servants, the greatest has ever started.

(Sorry for my bad english. I am an amateur after all ;) )

Re:Or may not have

[mikerubin]

You think it was the Jovians?
No, they're too peace loving.
It was a North Korean missile test.

Re:Or may not have

[init100]

I completely agree.

Re:Or may not have

[StupiderThanYou]

Here are the latest images at a more, um, robust location. Note the confirmation from JPL/NASA.

Re:Or may not have

[GargamelSpaceman]

One cool thing that Shoemaker/Levy had that this doesn't is a known cause. There was a known comet, on course to hit Jupiter, and lo and behold, after it was expected to hit Jupiter, there were new spots. This is just a new spot that looks similar to the Shoemaker/Levy spots but which could plausably have another cause other than impact.

Re:Or may not have

[DrinkDr.Pepper]

That's interesting. Care to cite your out-gassing?

See what a few minutes of Googling turned up:
Catalogue of Comet Discoveries
Near-Earth Asteroid Discovery Statistics

Re:Or may not have

[metallurge]

I like this quote a great deal. I took the liberty of smoothing the English only a little, while keeping the essential translational word choices the same. I humbly offer it:

Dilettantes! Dilettantes! - so they are called, who are occupied by a Science or an Art out of love for it, per il loro diletto, with disdain by those who do it for profit, because they love only the money which can be earned by it. This disdain is based on the dastardly conviction, that nobody would ever seriously take on a subject if not urged to it by distress, famine, or another greed. The public is of the same spirit and thus has the same opinion: from here comes its respect for "people of the trade", and its mistrust of amateurs. In reality, for the amateur, the subject is the goal. For the tradesman, it is only a means. Only he who is immediately interested in the subject and who is occupied with it out of love will carry it on with earnestness. From those, not from the paid servants, have the greatest achievements ever begun.

Re:Or may not have

[GameboyRMH]

It was a North Korean missile test.

Based on where it struck, I'd say this nuke could have been aimed at American soil!

Re:Or may not have

[Cytotoxic]

An amateur astronomer puts up pictures on his blog and we're comparing it to Shoemaker-Levy?

Right.... it's not like any amateur astronomer could have discovered something like comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. David Levy would be spinning in his grave to hear of this... well, if he was dead that is. Or not an amateur astronomer.

Re:Or may not have

[StickANeedleInMyEye]

That damned random Jupiter!! Who would think to look THERE??

Re:Or may not have

[Anonymous Coward]

Oddly enough, most of them don't have English degrees.

Re:Or may not have

[Anonymous Coward]

or 5 of them, black holes is what they look like. you see, the thing about space is... it's black and the thing about black holes is.....they're black.

Re:Or may not have

[dunng808]

This event could be attributed to the poet Grunthos the Flatulent. Good thing we have not launched a manned mission to Mars yet, least they all die of internal hemorrhaging!

Re:Or may not have

[Zancarius]

(Sorry for my bad english. I am an amateur after all ;) )

I know you were jesting, but I feel the need to tell you that your English is far, far better than that of most native speakers. I've always admired those who can speak my native tongue far better than I could ever hope to speak theirs.

Re:Or may not have

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, you're right. But can someone please explain why there is some juvenille at the other end of the Universe throwing rocks at us?

Re:Or may not have

[kjllmn]

Well, amateur astronomers observing actually have made quite a few important contributions to the science of astronomy.

Re:Or may not have

[metaforest]

I still have a lot of the SL9 impact pictures, and comparing them to this black mark... there are quite a few similarities especially in the edge detail. It's a shame that a larger telescope didn't get a look at it.

IANAPA but I do think this looks like an impact disturbance in the upper cloud layers, when compared to similar impacts from SL9.

Just hit jupiter

[The_mad_linguist]

I mean, just up and hit it. No warning, no reason, just a wild haymaker out of nowhere. Didn't even see the guy.

Man, that's going to leave a spot.

Re:Just hit jupiter

[GodfatherofSoul]

Next time, Jupiter better get his damned beer when he tells him to!

Re:Just hit jupiter

[Hoi Polloi]

I thought I heard a really loud "OW!" last night.

Re:Just hit jupiter

[TinBromide]

Is it just me or does the tear look a little like an anus... Does this mean that Jupiter just got tore a new one?

Super Comet Fragment Impact Very Large Explosions

[davidwr]

Let's all sing another round of Super Comet Fragment Impact Extra-Large Explosions by Kare and Higgins.

Good to see it doing it's job

[spankyofoz]

The gas giants are there to act as a magnet for comets/asteroids etc, so they don't end up near us.

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[networkzombie]

Yeah, but if we didn't see this one coming, what if next time the gas giants don't do their job? T-Rex says "Only humans can prevent global extintion level events."

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[Anonymous Coward]

The gas giants are there to act as a magnet for comets/asteroids etc, so they don't end up near us.

I don't remember that part of Genesis...

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[WindBourne]

Actually, at this point, I would rather a few were by us. I think that we are going to need the minerals and elements, and have a few close by with different minerals could be useful. In particular, China is the main supplier of Rare Earth and a few steel making minerals, but they are purposely holding them off the market. All in all, I think that if we want to avoid war, we need to make sure that all nations have access to these. Probably the more interesting way would be to mine space.

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[fireheadca]

The gas giants are there to act as a magnet for comets/asteroids etc, so they don't end up near us.

I don't remember that part of Genesis...

Which part do you remember?

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[Anonymous Coward]

He didn't mean it like that... just that they happen to do this. He didn't actually mean that it's what they're there for afaik.

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[tumutbound]

The gas giants are there to act as a magnet for comets/asteroids etc, so they don't end up near us.

I don't remember that part of Genesis...

Which part do you remember?

I remember Phil Collins great drumming and Peter Gabriels vocals. Of course this was the old Genesis not the reformed one.

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[Foobar of Borg]

I remember Phil Collins great drumming and Peter Gabriels vocals. Of course this was the old Genesis not the reformed one.

Yes, Phil Collins did great drumming and Peter Gabriel is a great singer, but they are much better apart than they are together. So, the whole Jupiter-Earth combination is kind of an anti-pre-reformed-Genesis.

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[malus314]

That Jupiter, what a great worker I tell you! Always cleaning up after Saturn drops the ball! Someone ought to have that planet fired and just give Jupiter it's paycheck!
There is a reason GM wants to sell it, after all!

Oh, wait...

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[wellingj]

What would be wrong with the prospecting model that was used during all the gold rush years?
After that fizzles we can move to the homesteading rush.

If you think about it, it's probably the fastest way to colonize space, because I don't see the super powers doing much more than having a global pissing match over what is already here....

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[bigbadvoo]

Actually, "It was thought that the planet served to partially shield the inner system from cometary bombardment. However, recent computer simulations suggest that Jupiter doesn't cause a net decrease in the number of comets that pass through the inner Solar System, as its gravity perturbs their orbits inward in roughly the same numbers that it accretes or ejects them." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter#Interaction_with_the_Solar_System

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[rs79]

" Yes, Phil Collins did great drumming and Peter Gabriel is a great singer, but they are much better apart than they are together. So, the whole Jupiter-Earth combination is kind of an anti-pre-reformed-Genesis."

Holst that thought.

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[rm999]

Not to mention that Jupiter's orbit keeps it close to a lot of asteroids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:InnerSolarSystem-en.png). Kind of beautiful: the Sun basically has a huge, sparse ring around it.

And here's a deep thought: if the asteroid belt had been closer to the Sun, there is a good chance we wouldn't be alive to wish it weren't ;)

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[Anonymous Coward]

And Jesus he knows me
and he knows I'm right
I've been talking to Jesus all my life
oh yes he knows me
and he knows I'm right
well he's been telling me
everything's gonna be alright

Won't find me practising what I'm preaching
won't find me making no sacrifice
but I can get you a pocketful of miracles
if you promise to be good, try to be nice
God will take good care of you
just do as I say, don't do as I do

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[Fumus]

I see a tiny problem here. In order for the amount of minerals to be actually useful at all, the asteroid would have to be quite large. And we all know the larger the asteroid, the bigger impact Earth gets.

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[WindBourne]

Actually, I think that it is exactly what we need. NASA will report what is found which will leave it open to another nation to haul down, while if private industry sends a remote probe around (say launched via falcon9 heavy and using a vasmir/nuke drive) to hop amonst the asteroids, it would make prefect sense.

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[WindBourne]

Of course, you could bring it earth and place it in an orbit, and mine it, or simply break it up prior to re-entry (that would lose a lot of mineral though).

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[HasselhoffThePaladin]

They are locking ... lasers ... sir. - Lt. Cmd. Worf

Sorry for the OT, but I believe that quote came from the episode "The Outrageous Okona", which makes it said by Lieutenant Worf, not Lieutenant Commander Worf. I'm really sorry, but I'm going to have to take your geek card. I'll be departing my parents' basement in approximately three weeks for my monthly Cheetos and Red Bull trip, I will collect it then.

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[Fumus]

Dude. If he had the technology to place a nearby asteroid in our orbit, then lack of rare minerals would be a minor inconvenience.

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[Anonymous Coward]

But if it hit us, there would be nobody to say ``something may have just hit earth'' :-)

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[StikyPad]

If the asteroid belt had been closer to the Sun, there's a good chance it wouldn't be around for us to wish it wasn't around. Left to their own devices, these asteroids would have undergone accretion to form a planet. Instead, Jupiter's influence has ensured that the average velocity of collisions was high enough for planetesimal shattering to dominate over accretion, thus we have the asteroid belt. Interestingly, Jupiter and Mars have flung most of the original material out of the belt, leaving only an estimated 0.1% behind, about 4% of our Moon's mass, which is what we see today.

Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_belt#Formation

Re:Good to see it doing it's job

[Foobar of Borg]

Hhhmmmmm.... It would appear that you are correct. Please drop off some of the Red Bull and Cheetos with my mom. I will be busy studying in the basement for readmittance.

Dang

[rlp]

So, I should cancel my plans to land on Europa?

Re:Dang

[mjwx]

So, I should cancel my plans to land on Europa?

All these worlds are yours, except Europa, attempt no landing there.

Re:Dang

[MichaelSmith]

So, I should cancel my plans to land on Europa?

All these worlds are yours, except Europa, attempt no landing there.

Until the sequel anyway. Then you can probably get away with it.

Re:Dang

[Cylix]

Well what did they think we would do once they said we couldn't land there?

Damn teases!

Honestly had they said nothing we would have not gone looking around. It was a boring little place anyway. At least, it was until we decided someone was hiding something.

In any event, I'm sure it won't end badly at all.

Re:Dang

[Tablizer]

Something also embedded into Uranus. Good luck with that ;-P

Re:Dang

[w0mprat]

So, I should cancel my plans to land on Europa?

All these worlds are yours, except Europa, attempt no landing there.

In the real 2010 its more like:

aLL THESE WORLD ARE BELONG TO YOU KK, DO NOT WANT EUROPA THX

Re:Dang

[Tumbleweed]

All these worlds are yours, except Europa, attempt no landing there.

Do or do not. There is no 'attempt'.

Re:Dang

[Tumbleweed]

In the real 2010 its more like:

aLL THESE WORLD ARE BELONG TO YOU KK, DO NOT WANT EUROPA THX

This is not the moon you're looking for. We can go about our business. Move along.

Re:Dang

[feyhunde]

Use them Together, Use them in Peace.

Re:Dang

[Anonymous Coward]

There goes the Europaen vacation.

Re:Dang

[niktemadur]

aLL THESE WORLD ARE BELONG TO YOU KK, DO NOT WANT EUROPA THX

OK, let's see if I can get this through the lameness filter:

+#353 ///0rldz 4r3 y00rz, xc3p+ 3|_|r0p4. 4++3mpt n0 p0wn4g3 n00bz rotflmao

Re:Dang

[raind]

No please don't. We all would like you to make the trip.

Re:Dang

[Tony Hoyle]

Yeah, like *that* is ever going to happen.

Re:Dang

[HertzaHaeon]

Scientists should rename Uranus to end that silly joke.

I propose the new name should be Urectum.

Re:Dang

[drinkypoo]

I propose the new name should be Urectum.

Rectum? You damn near killed 'em.

Re:Dang

[Naatach]

Something also embedded into Uranus. Good luck with that ;-P

You, sir, owe me a new monitor and a cup of coffee.

Re:Dang

[Anonymous Coward]

Keep your Europa-rail pass though, you might be able to use it later.

Re:Dang

[StikyPad]

In the real 2010, it's more like:

It's been forty years since the first moon landing, and we still haven't traveled beyond that distance. While we may have the capability in an abstract sense, we couldn't launch a manned mission to Europa right now even if we wanted to. Hell, we don't even have a craft capable of taking us back to the moon...

Re:Dang

[Tablizer]

My daughter once got assigned Uranus in science class. I got upset at her for not fighting for a more "respectable" planet. "I bet you were dilly-dallying when people were picking planets, weren't you! Now you will be the butt of....I mean subject to jokes".

Well that's why they're there...

[s0litaire]

Saturn and Jupiter are the sweepers of the Solar system. They are big, so things hit them instead of us. Think of them as bodyguards... ^_^

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[Vectronic]

Yeah, till the day one of them changes the orbit of what would have been just something to observe in the sky, to something that knocks us clean out of our orbit.

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[Tubal-Cain]

They are two pinpricks on a massive (nearly) 2D plane.
How does that help protect the even smaller pinprick that is Earth in 3D space?

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[TapeCutter]

Jupiter and Saturn are (nearly) flat?

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[brusk]

Well a lot of the stuff we worry about is roughly in the same disc as the planets, so it's not a perfect 2D space but it's closer to that than to a random distribution in 3D space.

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[Tubal-Cain]

Compared to their orbits, and their orbits are on the same plane, more or less.

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[KahabutDieDrake]

You don't have any idea what an elliptic plane is do you?

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[Tubal-Cain]

Well a lot of the stuff we worry about is roughly in the same disc as the planet...

True, but the size of their orbits makes it seem like playing foosball with two (weakly) magnetized needles for goalies and a bunch of iron fillings as the ball.

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[tnk1]

Actually, I think the biggest deal is that Jupiter and Saturn have been at it so long that after a certain point, they took care of most everything that hadn't already hit us in the first billion or so years.

Obviously, a lot of stuff rocked our world in the early days... like whatever gouged the moon out.

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[TapeCutter]

Earth also orbits on the same plane and so by your own reasoning is "flat" when compared to it's orbit. What point are you trying to make by CHOOSING 2D geometry for the gas giants and 3D for Earth?

The "protection" is related to the strength of the gravitational fields of the gas giants, gravitational fields are 3D and the Earth's field is several hundred times weaker than either of the gas giants.

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[Poorcku]

if they are our bodyguards, then i can call them Betty and they can call me Al.

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[sznupi]

Moon impact is in its own league, considering that the impactor was very large and came in very slow/probably from one of Lagrangian points of proto-Earth ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_impact_hypothesis )

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[L4t3r4lu5]

kekekekeke! ^-^

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[fyrewulff]

Jupiter's PR firm was quoted that day as saying, quote, "whoops.jpg"

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[CheshireCatCO]

Except that that's not true. The notion was based originally on speculation by someone and that speculation turned into established "fact" somehow.

Recent computer simulations (Grazier and Newman) show that in fact Jupiter takes more pot-shots at us than it protects us from. This isn't hard to believe, anything that enters its Hill Sphere is much more likely to scatter than to strike the planet.

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[nickruiz]

Saturn and Jupiter are the sweepers of the Solar system. They are big, so things hit them instead of us. Think of them as bodyguards... ^_^

I've nicknamed them Hans and Nitro.

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[cdombroski]

Jupiter isn't going to be much help against the big rock that's aimed towards us from solar north...

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[c6gunner]

Either you really like Palin, or you're massively understating the importance of the giants.

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[Tubal-Cain]

No. Please enlighten me.

Re:Well that's why they're there...

[kjllmn]

This 2D-plane that you refer to is the one in which the majority of the material in the solar system moves.

I just hand an thought...

[s0litaire]

...It's nearly 2010...

and a dark spot is noticed on Jupiter...

Now where did i put that monolith...

Re:I just hand an thought...

[Darth_brooks]

Check your lagrange points. I'm always leaving monoliths there. And defining blues-rock trios. Those always show up at my lagrange.

Re:I just hand an thought...

[Anonymous Coward]

xD

Re:I just hand an thought...

[murphyje]

Sorry, I'm in a public lab right now and exposing my LaGrange points might land me in jail. I'll try to check them when I get home.

She just fell on the coffee table!

[plasmacutter]

"something may have hit jupiter" and left a black mark...but jupiter inisists she just fell eye-first on the coffee table!

Re:She just fell on the coffee table!

[Darth_brooks]

"Great, another planet that doesn't listen..."

Can I use my frequent flier miles to upgrade the seat to hell that I just purchased?

Re:She just fell on the coffee table!

[Anonymous Coward]

That coffee table doesn't happen to be covered with empty beer bottles, some containing cigarette butts, does it?

Re:She just fell on the coffee table!

[Anonymous Coward]

I like my gas giants how I like my shrimp: battered.

Yep, that's why God put em there

[Weedhopper]

To sweep up debris. He also made the universe appear 13.5 billion years old when upon creation 6000 years ago.

Planets don't have a job. They aren't there to act as a debris sweep even if they do sweep debris.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[spankyofoz]

Sorry, I could have worded it better. I'm not claiming intelligent design put Jupiter there, merely that Jupiter is doing what Jupiter does, and that this event is nothing out of the ordinary.

Very cool that it was captured (by an Aussie)

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Anonymous Coward]

Lighten up dude. The guy made no religious reference. Please try to limit the display of your religious bigotry to times when someone actually makes a religious reference. Thank you.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[SEWilco]

If I pay Jupiter to catch rocks, then he has a job.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Weedhopper]

Sorry, didn't mean to come across like a jackass.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Anonymous Coward]

There are a lot of people who believe in God as creator that don't believe in young earth/young universe.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[afabbro]

To sweep up debris. He also made the universe appear 13.5 billion years old when upon creation 6000 years ago.

Planets don't have a job. They aren't there to act as a debris sweep even if they do sweep debris.

Wow. You infer fundamentalism, creationism, and a whole lot of other things from just the rather mild comment that gas giants "are there to act as a magnet for comet/asteroids so they don't end up near us". I don't recall the GP saying that God created the Earth in 7 days, that he believes Bishop Usher's creationist timeline, or even that he believes in intelligent design, much less God.

You think maybe, just maybe, he was speaking colloquially? Humorously? Not intending to make a profound statement but rather just shooting the breeze?

How big exactly is that chip on your shoulder? You might want to wipe the foam off your mouth and have a beer or drop a tranq, because you're kind of on hair trigger overload.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Weedhopper]

Hey, you know what? If that high horse you're on weren't so high, maybe you could see that apology that I wrote to the GP several minutes before you posted you counter diatribe.

I had a knee jerk reaction and I was wrong and I admitted it. If you read the following replies, you'd have seen that. Instead, you'd rather tell me that I'm foaming at the mouth.

Who's holds the moral high ground now? It ain't me, but it ain't you either.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, but in your rush to denigrate people who believe differently than yourself you did.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[pentalive]

The title of the original post was "Good to see it doing it's job (Score:5, Interesting)"

no religious reference there.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[pentalive]

When was the last time Jupiter cashed one of his paychecks?

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Anonymous Coward]

Or maybe, God did put it there and the universe is really 13.5 billions years old.
Believing in God doesn't mean you believe that the earth is 6000 years old.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[ROMRIX]

The title of the original post was "Good to see it doing it's job (Score:5, Interesting)"

no religious reference there.

Thanks Captain Obvious!

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[finity]

I have new hope for Slashdot and the Internet in general.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Tumbleweed]

Sorry, I could have worded it better. I'm not claiming intelligent design put Jupiter there, merely that Jupiter is doing what Jupiter does, and that this event is nothing out of the ordinary.

Yes, yes, gas giants *will* be gas giants, and all that...there's no such thing as a bad gas giant!

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Anonymous Coward]

Very cool that it was captured (by an Aussie)

Free the asteroid! Free the asteroid!

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Anonymous Coward]

Meta: Now that we've all seen the guy apologise, press PgDn approximately five times (MS patent pending) to skip over the horde of twits that still won't give him a break. While his comment wasn't entirely in good form, it's understandable and he's apologised.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[wellingj]

Makes me wonder how bad it is when you do try.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[bonch]

Jesus Christ, it was a fucking joke. And yes, my use of that phrase was intentional.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[devnulljapan]

Yes, but in your rush to denigrate people who believe differently than yourself you did.

You mean like the jackasses who insist the universe is 6000 years old?

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Anonymous Coward]

He's been saving up for an anniversary ring to give Uranus.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Weedhopper]

Thanks, but no. Although it is a little churlish, at this point, I'm fascinated by the continuing responses of the [i]righteously indignant.[/i]

I especially like the ones that are lecturing me on religion, especially since my religious beliefs can be no more or less inferred from my comment than I could or should from the GP.

There's some mod(s) out there +1ing ACs for one line comments, including the AC that is basically flipping my apology the bird.

The score for the original comment is swinging up and down, so I'm guessing this is a polarizing issue, even though it was meant as a joke. Poor form, but a joke.

So far, no death threats.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[wisdom_brewing]

I'm going to kill you you son of a bitch! I know where you live!

*disclaimer* I havent read the original comment and am only responding to the lack of death threats... I wouldn't want you to feel so unhated :)

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Ginger Unicorn]

He was denigrating a notion, not a group of people. The fact that there exist some people who take criticism of their worldview as a personal attack is a matter for those particular people to come to terms with.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Anonymous Coward]

When was the last time Jupiter cashed one of his paychecks?

It all goes to his pension fund. He will cash it out when he retires ie. when he turns into a sun.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[fireheadca]

Yes, but in your rush to denigrate people who believe differently than yourself you did.

You mean like the jackasses who insist the universe is 6000 years old?

Maybe they have a different concept of year? Just like 40 days and 40 nights is not a literal 40 days - it just means a very long time.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[drinkypoo]

Yes, but in your rush to denigrate people who believe differently than yourself you did.

Certain ideas are ridiculous, and SHOULD be attacked, so that we can realize that they are ridiculous and move on with life. As it is, it was a mildly funny joke and should not have attracted passing comment. Nobody should care when an AC with bad grammar calls them out.

I think it's clear at this point that the earth wasn't made in a week, and religious fundamentalists are trouble.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[nickruiz]

[quote]When was the last time Jupiter cashed one of his paychecks?[/quote]

Just like how China is waiting for the opportune time to cash in on USA's debt, Jupiter's waiting for the opportune time to enslave us.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[cwiegmann24]

I think it's clear at this point that the earth wasn't made in a week, and religious fundamentalists are trouble.

Just like the earth isn't round and the sun isn't the center of the solar system, right?

Certain ideas may seem ridiculous, until you take the time to really look at them objectively.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Anonymous Coward]

Got it - it means people on big boats can't count, right? So they just freaking make something up? I think it was supposed to be 42, but that darn ark captain passed out drunk a couple of nights and missed counting them. Good thing the rain was warm and there were no icebergs or he might have had an animal spill.

Honestly - it someone tells me 40 days, I expect 40 days. If they say, "I'm not sure, it was something like a month or more" - then I'll agree they meant a long time. If my vacation home is available to me for 7 days and 6 nights - that better not just mean "a short time" - it better mean 6 nights.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[apoc.famine]

Ideas are beautiful, fragile things.
 
Attack people, not ideas.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Anonymous Coward]

Must be one of those jobs saved or created that Obama claims in the stimulus package.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[h4rm0ny]

Yeah, but maybe if they keep hassling you, they'll eventually make you regret apologising and get you to behave in a way that they can be indignant about again. Because they love being indignant about something.

(Note: "They" does not refer to religious people. It refers to people that love to be indignant, examples of which can be found in most demographics).

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[vertinox]

Sorry, I could have worded it better. I'm not claiming intelligent design put Jupiter there, merely that Jupiter is doing what Jupiter does, and that this event is nothing out of the ordinary.

Well if you take the reverse view, it doesn't require ID.

We are here simply because Jupiter happen to be there.

Had Jupiter not been there, then no complex life would have evolved on earth in the first place simply because it would be hit a great deal more by very large objects.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[devnulljapan]

Maybe they have a different concept of year? Just like 40 days and 40 nights is not a literal 40 days - it just means a very long time.

Yes, and maybe wibble. And maybe the moon is made of cheese, but "cheese" really means "rock". And up is down and black is white and left is right...depending.
All the jackasses who believe that I've ever seen/heard/been unfortunate enough to meet define "year" as "year", as in 365 of your earth days. (Where "day" is 24 hours, where hour is "60 minutes" where "minute" is "60 seconds" where...etc. all the way down along with the turtles).
Biblical literalists are not subtle enough to do what you're suggesting. And even if they were, what's the point of saying "year" when you mean "100 million years" the narguing the toss about it?
Just to be bloody minded?

 

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[StikyPad]

If cashing checks was a prerequisite to accepting a contract, then we wouldn't have Guantanamo Bay! If Jupiter is failing to cash its checks, it's clearly an indication that it finds personal satisfaction of a job well done to be sufficient compensation. Just like the satisfaction Cuba gets from knowing it's made a difference in the Global War on Terror.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Bungie]

He also made the universe appear 13.5 billion years old when upon creation 6000 years ago

It's pretty easy to have such a large gap in dates when ancient peoples had no clue what the heck numbers in the billions range were or how to express them. I don't even think Roman Numerals have a symbol for billions, how the heck could ancient peoples possibly know what number to write?

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Xyrus]

Difficult to cash a check when paid under the table. I'm pretty sure he's an illegal, but he works so well I don't want to fire him. He's a jovial fellow to boot.

~X~

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Anonymous Coward]

"What are you, some kind of moron?"

Honestly, this is the only way to treat ID'ers, and anyone who defends them, as you've done. It's not being open minded; it's being jelly-brained.

They are idiots, and you sir, are an idiot.

Mod me up.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[mkarcher]

When was the last time Jupiter cashed one of his paychecks?

Sixty-five million years ago.

Re:Yep, that's why God put em there

[Anonymous Coward]

Look, God never specified a reference frame. And there's certainly nothing about taking Moses aside for fifty years to teach him quantum physics, so what we've got is a poetic explanation meant for a wandering Hebrew in the year 2000 BC.

Taking it to mean seven literal days is, on the whole, a bit of a strawman. Yes, there are some fools *cough*AnswersInGenesis*cough* loudly trumpeting it, but their opinions should not be mistaken for those of Christianity as a whole.

I hope it had collision insurance!

[techmuse]

You know, the cost of repairing or replacing the Jovian atmosphere is really high. I hope the planet had a good insurance policy...

Re:I hope it had collision insurance!

[Cylix]

Well we can't claim it on insurance because the interplanetary authorities will know we wasted our air.

I have a backup plan.

We are just going to send a ship to suck the air out of another planet. Just have to get the planetary shield codes first.

May the schwartz be with you.

Re:I hope it had collision insurance!

[Anonymous Coward]

The air is only expensive because it's so happy.

Fuck you Jupiter!

[deglr6328]

I found a new dark spot on my pole last week and you don't see me running to the science press about it! media whore!

Re:Fuck you Jupiter!

[Tarlus]

When your pole has the same gravitational magnitude of Jupiter, then you can have attention from the media.

Re:Fuck you Jupiter!

[TheDugong]

That is because everyone would know you are talking out of uranus.

Re:Fuck you Jupiter!

[Anonymous Coward]

You should be running to a doctor, though.

Jupiter is good for this kind of thing.

[Ralph Spoilsport]

cleaning up the solar system of random rocky debris. good job!

Jupitian

[Anonymous Coward]

Jupitian says: Get off my lawn asteroid !

No, not the first

[davidwr]

Jupiter's been impacted many many times before.

Re:No, not the first

[L4t3r4lu5]

Thinking back to GCSE Science, but isn't Jupiter a gas-giant? How do you impact a gas?

Do aeroplanes "impact" clouds?

Re:No, not the first

[Sique]

Yes, they do. And there are very specific types of shock waves running through clouds and other types of shockwaves running through gas giants.

Re:No, not the first

[c0p0n]

Pretty sure you mean "Uranus".

Re:No, not the first

[Anonymous Coward]

I like impacting "Uranus"

Re:No, not the first

[crontabminusell]

Jupiter average density: 1.326 g/cm3
Water maximum density: 1.000 g/cm3 (or more commonly 1000 kg/m3)

So Jupiter is, on average, more dense than water on our planet. Though I understand that it's most likely not nearly that dense at the fringes of the atmosphere than it is on the interior, I honestly have no idea how they measure the volume of Jupiter when they make that calculation (like, are they measuring the visible parts of Jupiter that we're all familiar with, or are they measuring beyond that into some field that most of us *aren't* familiar with?)

Re:No, not the first

[CorporateSuit]

Volume can roughly be measured as 4/3(pi)r^3

The mass is trickier. You have to measure it by checking the planet's gravitational pull. The gravitational attraction between a satellite and Jupiter is G times Jupiter's mass times the satellite's mass, divided by the distance between Jupiter and the satellite, squared. Since we know the weight of a satellite, and we know the distance between the satellite and Jupiter, we can gauge the mass of the planet. We can check our maths by rotating the equatioin and checking Jupiter's mass against the sun (where Jupiter would be calculated in place of the satellite).

Re:No, not the first

[armareum]

I think he means: "What is the radius of the planet, given that it is a gas planet? How do you determine the 'surface' of a gas planet?"

Re:No, not the first

[CorporateSuit]

Still doesn't seem to be an issue. It may be a gas giant, but it still has a very sharp horizon.

In related news...

[fahrbot-bot]

As the small dark spots on Jupiter continue to grow in number and size, a repeating radio message is now being received from the vicinity of this, solar system's largest, planet:

ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDINGS THERE.

Who will be the first?

[erroneus]

Who will be the first to register "Jupiter-aid.com" to collect donations for the stricken Jupiterians?

Re:Who will be the first?

[SEWilco]

There's no way for Jupiterians to affect us and that's final!

Re:Who will be the first?

[Rhuragh]

Hey, you jerk! I'm from Jupiter, and the proper demonym is "Jovian," you insensitive clod!

Re:Who will be the first?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think you'll find the proper term is "Jovians"

Hubble!

[Tablizer]

I hope they can get the Hubble scope on it fast, without bureaucratic or technical hurdles.

Re:Hubble!

[Tsaot]

I hope they can get the Hubble scope on it fast, without bureaucratic or technical hurdles.

Isn't Jupiter too close for the Hubble? It's a deep space telescope and Jupiter hardly counts.

Re:Hubble!

[Spikeles]

Unfortunately it's still having issues

Re:Hubble!

[Tsaot]

Nevermind on that, I just googled it and found images of jupiter taken by the Hubble. Now to hunt down that science teacher that said the blasted thing couldn't see anything within our solar system.

Re:Hubble!

[rcw-home]

Isn't Jupiter too close for the Hubble? It's a deep space telescope and Jupiter hardly counts.

Just like my point-and-shoot camera doesn't care whether something is 100 feet away or several miles away when I manually set it to infinite focus, the Hubble Space Telescope doesn't care whether something is a light second or several billion light years away. It has imaged every planet in the solar system except Mercury (including Earth), has imaged the moon, and once indirectly imaged the sun.

Re:Hubble!

[dotgain]

Issues!? Seems to me it's got an entire subscription

Re:Hubble!

[gaspyy]

Just to be pedantic, point-and-shoot cameras (aka focus-free, including the ones in cell phones) are not focused to infinity but rather to the hyperfocal distance

Re:Hubble!

[dotgain]

And to continue the pedantry, from the article you linked: (emphasis mine)

Definition 2: The hyperfocal distance is the distance beyond which all objects are acceptably sharp, for a lens focused at infinity.

Fun, isn't it?

Re:Hubble!

[Anonymous Coward]

Point-and-Shoot does not imply fix-focus. It does essentially apply that you only have to press a single button to get an image, i.e. automatic exposure and an autofocus.

Re:Hubble!

[Tablizer]

Point-and-Shoot cameras often make a medium-focus compromise and use a small aperture to reduce any focus error that may occur (at the increase risk of motion blur due to longer exposures), or special auto-guess-focus software. That's different than Hubble. Jupiter is still so far away that it does not require a different focus than what is used on deep space. For all intents and purposes, it still uses "infinity" focus for Jupiter. Any error from being nearer is much smaller than the resolution limit of Hubble.
   

My god, is full of...

[gmuslera]

monoliths... Wasn't that supposed to happen next year?

Received transmission:

[Chairboy]

All these planets are yours
except Europa
Attempt no landi- hang on, what the fu#$(@*$&
NO CARRIER

The gods are slugging it out

[flyingfsck]

The gods are fighting each other again. My money is on the God of Heaven and Earth, Jupiter. He'll win as usual and be none the worse for wear.

Jupiter is the king!

[mister_playboy]

I, for one, welcome our (318 times as massive as our planet) planetary overlord.

Shit

[The Bungi]

If we missed something that big about to hit Jupiter what else are we missing? I hope to hell that's not an impact feature.

And where the hell is Bruce Willis??

Re:Shit

[Tablizer]

If we missed something that big about to hit Jupiter what else are we missing? I hope to hell that's not an impact feature.

Don't worry, I'm sure somebody is keeping an ey~' % 3 ;+ ' ` { . $ [NO CARRIER]
     

How to solve it

[DoofusOfDeath]

The math is actually pretty simple to figure this all out.

Given: About 12 weeks ago, Balmer finds out that Netbooks are shipping with Linux.

How much did kinetic energy did the chair possess...

Re:How to solve it

[icannotthinkofaname]

Apparently, it had enough KE.

Re:How to solve it

[Anonymous Coward]

We need details to run the numbers. Things like the mass of the chair and how many Red Bulls Balmer had consumed in the last hour.

Re:How to solve it

[ebonum]

How do I mod you beyond 5?!?!?!?!

I have tears in my eyes.

A large dark spot forms on Jupiter...

[Junior J. Junior III]

And the space station toilet is broken. Coincidence?

Gasp! You've solved our mission to Mars problem!

[Tsaot]

All we have to do is put an astronaut in a chair near Ballmer and then tell him Google just hired Gates!

O)bligatory Post

[Anonymous Coward]

Obligatory Post: Wow, I bet you're all glad it wasn't Uranus!

Sorry, but, it had to be said. This *is* Slashdot, after all. This post frees others to create fart jokes, and so, benefits everyone, especially the high UID posters.

new site jupiter.samba.org

[tridge]

Anthony's webserver has been slashdotted, but
he has copied the files to:

    http://jupiter.samba.org/

He is now trying to login to his server so he
can redirect the pages to the above site.

As well as being an amateur astronomer, Anthony
is a keen Linux enthusiast. His home built
telescope is controlled by his Linux box.

Cheers, Tridge

Re:new site jupiter.samba.org

[plover]

As well as being an amateur astronomer, Anthony is a keen Linux enthusiast. His home built telescope is controlled by his Linux box.

But not tonight, I bet it's not controlling a damn thing.

Re:new site jupiter.samba.org

[ruiner13]

He is now trying to login to his server so he can redirect the pages to the above site.

As well as being an amateur astronomer, Anthony is a keen Linux enthusiast. His home built telescope is controlled by his Linux box.

Well, I hope the website isn't run on the box that runs his telescope... or else it may mean the first time Slashdot has directly interfered with astronomy!

Just doing it's job

[confused one]

policing the solar system, protecting the innocent inner planets from the evil attacking hordes.

Crash landing

[Anonymous Coward]

At least it didn't end up in the Hudson

Black Spots on Jupiter?

[Penguinshit]

There goes the neighborhood!

It was probably the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.

[HouseOfMisterE]

That thing really gets around!

Punchline forming...

[rolando2424]

*insert your own Yo Momma joke here*

Re:Punchline forming...

[Tarlus]

*Inserts joke about my mother* ...wait, what?

Re:Punchline forming...

[slider2800]

That's exactly what SHE said!

please use new URL

[Anonymous Coward]

Can the slashdot admins please move the link in the story to the new site? I can't even log into my box to put the redirect in place...

http://jupiter.samba.org/

Thanks again Tridge, you're a lifesaver

Anthony

Re:please use new URL

[Anonymous Coward]

Mirror #2 -

http://tinyurl.com/n6ytxu

Re:please use new URL

[Anonymous Coward]

Hi Anthony. Must check out your site after the noise dies down as I am contemplating getting a lunar and planetary imager to use on my Celestron CPC800 to get some practice in before I move onto having a go at DSO on an EQ5 with a WO Megrez 72 + guide scope. Thing is, the image you have taken is magnificent but I cant believe its only 648x488 pixels as for one thing the image is 500*540. Do you have any information on your site about your image generation train? I'm trying to figure out whether I need more pixels than 640*480. What do you think of the DMK 41AF02.AS 1280 x 960, is it worth the extra money over the smaller versions?

Re:Super Comet Fragment Impact Very Large Explosio

[Tumbleweed]

Let's all sing another round of Super Comet Fragment Impact Extra-Large Explosions by Kare and Higgins.

Let's not.

I SWEAR...

[Phizzle]

I DIDN'T DO IT!!!

Who holds the moral high ground?

[Anonymous Coward]

Me. AC.

Never saw that comin', huh?

OMFG

[Anonymous Coward]

A second asteroid just flew into the north pole!!!!

pak chooie unf

[plover]

I am the sweeper planet. I am here to protect you from the terrible secret of space.

I am the pusher planet. DO NOT TRUST THE SWEEPER PLANET. Sweeping will not protect you from the terrible secret of space. Pushing will protect you from the terrible secret of space.

Re:pak chooie unf

[Quirkz]

Is "pak chooie unf" supposed to be one of the lines in that song? If so, I think I know the line you're talking about, and I always thought it was "actually us" with a pause in the middle of actually because of the robot voice. One of us has a very vivid imagination.

I also thought that the pusher robot wanted to shove, and the shover robot wanted to push, but I'm too lazy to verify.

Re:pak chooie unf

[plover]

Pak chooie unf was spelled out in the video. It's non-English nonsense, as opposed to the whole song which is bog standard nonsense.

Something May Have Just Hit Jupiter

[Anonymous Coward]

Eeriest Slashdot story title of the year?

Re:Something May Have Just Hit Jupiter

[Anonymous Coward]

Has anbody considered a study of how Gas Giant Impacts, and Imagery there of, Inversely influences the relevance of associated internet commentary by the Hoi Polloi?

Re:Something May Have Just Hit Jupiter

[Anonymous Coward]

[...] the Hoi Polloi?

Is that anything like "the La Brea tar pits" or the "Rio Grande river"?

OMG! Shooting planets out of the sky?

[Runaway1956]

Where's the safest place to take cover?

Oh, wait. This is probably one time boot camp training will come in handy.

1. Sit down.
2. Place your head between your knees.
3. Kiss your ass "good-bye".

I don't know - that still sounds kinda disgusting - maybe I'll read and think a bit before I do that. Oh. That's right. ALL THE PLANETS have been hit repeatedly. There probably isn't a year that goes by without one being hit. This hit's maybe the biggest ever recorded, but nothing new. Lotsa hits happened before mankind was around to record them.

Phhht.

More non-news. Maybe I'll just catch the re-runs next year.

Re:OMG! Shooting planets out of the sky?

[Memroid]

1. Sit down.
2. Place your head between your knees.
3. Kiss your ass "good-bye".

4. ???
5. ...PROFIT!!!

Re:OMG! Shooting planets out of the sky?

[Anonymous Coward]

I have read somewhere that the earth gains a few tons of matter per day from meteors (mostly water).

Re:OMG! Shooting planets out of the sky?

[jnnnnn]

Well, given that the planets were FORMED from colliding objects, it's not really surprising that collisions are still happening.

Re:OMG! Shooting planets out of the sky?

[instagib]

Profit for whom? Chiropractors?

Re:OMG! Shooting planets out of the sky?

[instagib]

On the other hand, meteorism increases greenhouse gases.

Jupiter is a Gas Giant

[Anonymous Coward]

Nonsense, nothing can hit Jupiter. It is a gas giant. It probably slowed down while passing thru that massive gas layers and halted at the core because of the gravity.

Re:Jupiter is a Gas Giant

[radon28]

How is your explanation any different from what the article postulated?

Re:Jupiter is a Gas Giant

[Ihlosi]

Nonsense, nothing can hit Jupiter. It is a gas giant. It probably slowed down while passing thru that massive gas layers and halted at the core because of the gravity.

At a few kilometers per second, you won't feel the difference between hitting a solid and hitting a gas.

Re:Jupiter is a Gas Giant

[argent]

You mean, apart from "It probably slowed down while passing thru that massive gas layers and halted at the core because of the gravity." involving such a fundamental misunderstanding of physics that I despair for the public school system?

Re:Jupiter is a Gas Giant

[agw]

Nonsense, nothing can hit Jupiter. It is a gas giant. It probably slowed down while passing thru that massive gas layers and halted at the core because of the gravity.

At a few kilometers per second, you won't feel the difference between hitting a solid and hitting a gas.

That would depend on the pressure in the atmosphere.
If something enters the atmosphere it will burst as soon as the pressure is too high.
That will definately happen on Jupiter, but also happens on Venus or even Earth. Early probes to Venus were crushed even before the impact and Venus is a rocky planet.

It's unlikely that anything will "hit" the core of Jupiter, as only the first layer and the clouds are really gas. Below it, the pressure is so great the gas becomes like a liquid.

Jupiter's layers are actually quite interesting and become really awesome when realizing the size of them.

Re:This should be modded "Troll" ...

[Arthur Grumbine]

It parses far too easily as a joke on spousal abuse.

Does it parse any other way!?
Well, I guess it could be parsed as planetary lesbian domestic partner abuse, if you really want to be PC.

Nice example for FOSS

[plopez]

Astronomy is a good example for FOSS. A lot of near Earth low energy astronomy gets done by amateurs in the best sense of the word, those who have a passion for the topic but don't get paid to do it.

The same for other areas such as birding and botany. Often volunteers discover or rediscover rare species and then the pros can come back in and do more in depth studies.

Anywho. Nice job. What ever it turns out to be.

Re:Nice example for FOSS

[Anonymous Coward]

A bit like geology....
You find a nice rock.
You take it to the geologist and he tells you how it got there.
And then tries to talk you into leaving it in his collection.

Re:Nice example for FOSS

[Sockatume]

The "free" part I'll give you, but "open source" or "software"? I mean, I can see why it's in the same spirit as FOSS, but FOSS isn't a synonym for human cooperation just yet.

Re:This should be modded "Troll" ...

[Draek]

So? here at Slashdot we make jokes of murderers, pedophiles, recently deceased people, people with disabilities, etc. And if we don't care about *those*, I don't see why we'd care about simple domestic abuse.

Plus, it provides some much-needed relief from the endless 2010 allusions being posted here.

Is it the Hydrogues?

[RazzleDazzle]

And should we be worried?

Re:Is it the Hydrogues?

[yahwotqa]

Not to worry, the Earth should have enough verdani (and somewhat polluted wentals) on board, plus we can always call faeros from the Sun, if needed. :)

No...

[jfbilodeau]

Urectum.

Re:No...

[Themer]

Wrecked 'em? Damn near killed 'em!

No religious reference?

[kumanopuusan]

Are you kidding? This story and the whole concept of Jupiter as a celestial body is heretical and an attack on traditional values.

Jupiter being naughty again?

[ldpercy]

http://www.satirewire.com/news/aug02/jupiter.shtml

It's a battlefield player

[beerbear]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/7/17/

Re:This should be modded "Troll" ...

[ZeroExistenZ]

... or at least "Uncool." It parses far too easily as a joke on spousal abuse.

Sounds like that hit close to home...

jupter + uranus = ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Jupiter + Uranus = ?
- that kinda would explain black spots on the pole.... /F

Re:This should be modded "Troll" ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh hey guys, i'm new here, just came from Digg

Quite simply, i find the postings on here incredibly terrible and a disgrace that such people are being moderated as funny when making jokes about domestic abuse! Please mod him down!

Yeah.. we'll get right on that champ.
You must be very new here, right?

south pole

[mathfeel]

Took me a few second to realized why the south pole is on top of the image. The guy is in Australia.

Re:Super Comet Fragment Impact Very Large Explosio

[Ogive17]

haha dammit, that's going to be stuck in my head all day now!

Google Failbot

[argent]

Apparently Google's Usenet search has been caponised again. If you keep following the links you end up looking at...

Your search - "Super Comet Fragment Impact, Extra Large Explosions" - did not match any documents.
Suggestions:

        * Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
        * Try different keywords.
        * Try more general keywords.
        * Try your query on: Web Search

DANG

[Anonymous Coward]

This needs to be modded +1 Stairs.

Re:This should be modded "Troll" ...

[drinkypoo]

Trying to explain to stupid people that humor is a release valve is, well, much like trying to explain anything to stupid people. Just let them go back to their job at McDonald's ("But I'm a manager! It's not like I work on the line!") and don't try too hard to bring them around to your way of thinking. They're not capable of it.

upside down?

[simplerThanPossible]

Why is the "south polar region" on the top? Is that an astronomer thing?

Re:upside down?

[BrightSpark]

Sex, sex, sex. That's all they think about! M.P.

Re:upside down?

[bossanovalithium]

It's the way the reflecting mirror images the object I believe. The timing for this is spectacular, if it does start to grow, we are kinda stuffed.

impact confirmed from JPL

[cadience]

"Glenn Orton from JPL has imaged this site using the NASA Infrared Telescope on Hawaii and confirms that it is an impact site and not a localised weather event."--from the linked website.

Me. I hit Jupiter...

[Yeff]

And I was clearly provoked.

maybe Jupiter is being studied.

[DragonTHC]

Did you find an ejection point or just an entrance point?

If you look at old pics of Jupiter...

[dm513]

If you look and compare some old pics of Jupiter and the current one showing the recent "impact"...You will notice there has been a darkened spot there before...

Pointless Anime Joke

[jameskojiro]

Tuxedo Kamen is quoted as saying: "Bitch better have my supper ready or I will have to divorce the bitch like I did with that klutzy meatball head."

It wasn't me. Really!

[gestalt_n_pepper]

I like Jupiter now. I really do. We're buds! Pal around all the time, we do. Heh, heh. Yup, good ole Joopy, you know. That's what his friends call him. Heh, heh. Heh, Heh.

Re:This should be modded "Troll" ...

[yurtinus]

No no no, you don't understand. If we can't be offended for somebody else's sake, then how will anybody know that we *really* care?!

Ringworld

[Anonymous Coward]

How close are we?

Yeah

[davidwr]

I searched articles in that group for that day and it's been deleted.

It wouldn't surprise me if it got swept out in an automated song-lyric purge. Copyrights, you know. The irony is my posting here in 2004 got the explicit after-the-fact blessing from Higgins. See http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=114837&cid=9760539, http://slashdot.org/~beamjockey/journal/61635, and http://beamjockey.livejournal.com/.

Something may NOT have!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Extremely surprised at this rash posting on Slashdot. While some posts languish for weeks waiting for approval, such half baked and unconfirmed items do manage to make it almost instantaneously.

Asteroid confirmed

[mhaskell]

Several sky watchers have been following a
very dark asteroid for the last few months
before it disappeared behind Jupiter. It
apparently was measured to be about
1x4x9 meters in shape.

Check your assumptions

[Anonymous Coward]

The black spot is not necessarily caused by something entering the Jovian atmosphere. It could also have been caused by something leaving the atmosphere that is now well on it's way to Earth.

OH NOES!!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

It's planet-X coming to get us in 2012!! BE WARNED!!!

For those who don't get it

[Anonymous Coward]

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Natural Selection

[PleaseFearMe]

You might not be wrong. If Jupiter wasn't there, a comet may have hit earth and broke it before we came to it. It's like natural selection. The earths out there, that don't have their Jupiter sweeping the trash, might not have the chance to have us humans, that think that Jupiter sweeps the trash. If this is the case, then Jupiter does indeed have a role of sweeping trash, or it would not be recognized. Not as stable, but still interesting.

Paging CleverNickName

[silverspell]

You know what we should call this thing, right?

The blog of Anthony Wesley, an Australian amateur astronomer, has what may be the first photos of a recent comet or asteroid impact on Jupiter, near the south pole.

July 2009 Jupiter impact, I dub thee...the Wesley Crusher.

My favorite headline so far..

[niktemadur]

Yup. Jupiter got served.

Old photo jupiter?

[Anonymous Coward]

i'm see this photo http://jupiter.samba.org/jupiter-impact.html .I not have old photo to compare this photo

NASA has verified this event...

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-112

Re:Gasp! You've solved our mission to Mars problem

[DoofusOfDeath]

All we have to do is put an astronaut in a chair near Ballmer and then tell him Google just hired Gates!

We're not ready for interstellar flight.

Re:This should be modded "Troll" ...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm a murdering retarded pedophile who recently died, you insensitive clod.

Might Betelgeuse Go BOOM?

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.rense.com/general86/boom.htm
Might Betelgeuse Go BOOM?
By Karl Schwarz
7-19-9
This essay is regarding a 'what if' scenario that could have a major impact on our planet and life on it. There is nothing to be alarmed about because there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. All the wailing and whining in the world would add up to exactly zero. In a way, this is about the sheer impotence of our species when compared to the bigger picture of things regarding this Universe and the realities of awesome powers therein.
One thing people might need to do is put grain, fruit and vegetable seeds in a safe place just like the elitist group is doing that includes Bill Gates, Monsanto, Rockefeller and others. That should also include seeds for trees, flowers, anything green from far and wide and should include soil too. The reason for stockpiling fertile soil is explained towards the end of this essay.
Those who do not have a survivalist mentality or survivalist skills might want to hone up on those.
If you are unaware of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, these links can fill you in:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Global_Seed_Vault
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7529
I have been curious for several years as to why some elitist like Monsanto, Bill Gates and Rockefeller felt that such a seed vault would be necessary. Sort of, have they run out of things to spend their money on? Cannot stoop to house and feed the homeless and poor, so collect seeds?
So, I turned on the radar and have been watching for over 3 years for any clue, any hint as to why these elitists were suddenly so interested in seeds and a Doomsday Vault in the Arctic.
Regardless of what some seem to think, we did not create any of this Universe nor do we run it or own it. Our species never has and never will. We do not do a very good job of managing this planet. I have yet to see anyone or any government on this planet that is even remotely worthy of being the ruler of this planet and that includes my homeland of the United States. We all pale in comparison to the majesty and the sheer power that the Universe demonstrates every day.
I am reminded of a verse in II Corinthians 12:9: 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
The Universe works; our planet is for the most part a disaster and does not work. I have come to think that most of mankind is suffering from some sort of collective dementia and are totally disconnected from the continuum. Even in the face of hard facts and truth, we as a species have honed the art of cognitive dissonance and detachment from realities. That will not save us or make any problem go away.
Mankind might be very close to getting slapped into reality or worse.
So, YES, there is a very high probably that something is about to happen in the near to medium future. It may be in 1 week, 1 year, 5-10 years or 25 years from now. All we can do is bear witness to it and deal with it when that day arrives. if any of us are still alive to deal with it.
There is something on the radar that could threaten Earth and life on it. It may well be headed at us even as you read this and could be devastating to life on our planet.
We may soon have to prove that we are smarter than the dinosaurs and can avoid mass extinction. The phenomenon of mass extinction on this planet has happened many times before. We may be next on the list to face that reality.
Enjoy.
*****
I for one am sitting on the edge of my chair waiting for Barky Obama to utter his next hollow, shallow Messianic syllables about how he alone is going to save Earth from Mr. Betelgeuse with another Bail Out or slick trick. Maybe Tiny Tim (God Bless each and every Insider) Geithner and Helicopter Ben Bernanke can dream up a quick bribe to see if Mr. Betelgeuse will go away and not hit Earth with a planet-killing Weapon of Mass Destruction.
No, I am not referring to the funny but bizarre movie starring Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Gina D