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Something May Have Just Hit Jupiter

Posted by kdawson on from the jumbo-size-clearasil dept.

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.

218 of 299 comments (clear)

  1. Alternate site for slashdotted article by Romancer · · Score: 5, Informative

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

    --


    ) Human Kind Vs Human Creation
    ) It'd be interesting to see how many humans would survive to serve us.
  2. Or may not have by intx13 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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".

    1. Re:Or may not have by davester666 · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    2. Re:Or may not have by gammaraybuster · · Score: 5, Interesting

      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.

    3. Re:Or may not have by Aussie · · Score: 5, Informative

      >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)

    4. Re:Or may not have by dmartine40 · · Score: 1

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

    5. Re:Or may not have by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

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

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    6. Re:Or may not have by ozmanjusri · · Score: 4, Funny

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

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    7. Re:Or may not have by GreenTech11 · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      Laughter is the best medicine, except if you have a broken rib.
    8. Re:Or may not have by dido · · Score: 4, Informative

      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.

      --
      Qu'on me donne six lignes écrites de la main du plus honnête homme, j'y trouverai de quoi le faire pendre.
    9. Re:Or may not have by init100 · · Score: 5, Insightful

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

    10. Re:Or may not have by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

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

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    11. Re:Or may not have by SlashWombat · · Score: 1

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

    12. Re:Or may not have by dintech · · Score: 1

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

    13. Re:Or may not have by Sique · · Score: 5, Interesting

      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 ;) )

      --
      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    14. Re:Or may not have by mikerubin · · Score: 1

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

      --
      I sat down to write a new sig tonight and all I did was make the chair warm.
    15. Re:Or may not have by StupiderThanYou · · Score: 1

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

    16. Re:Or may not have by GargamelSpaceman · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      ...
    17. Re:Or may not have by DrinkDr.Pepper · · Score: 1

      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

      --
      0xfeedface
    18. Re:Or may not have by metallurge · · Score: 2, Informative
      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.

    19. Re:Or may not have by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      It was a North Korean missile test.

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

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    20. Re:Or may not have by Cytotoxic · · Score: 1

      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.

    21. Re:Or may not have by StickANeedleInMyEye · · Score: 1

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

    22. Re:Or may not have by dunng808 · · Score: 1

      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!

      --

      Gary Dunn
      Open Slate Project

    23. Re:Or may not have by Zancarius · · Score: 1

      (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.

      --
      He who has no .plan has small finger. ~ Confucius on UNIX
    24. Re:Or may not have by kjllmn · · Score: 1

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

    25. Re:Or may not have by metaforest · · Score: 1

      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.

  3. Just hit jupiter by The_mad_linguist · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

    1. Re:Just hit jupiter by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 1

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

      --
      I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
    2. Re:Just hit jupiter by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 1

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

      --
      It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
    3. Re:Just hit jupiter by TinBromide · · Score: 1

      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?

      --
      Is it sad that I am more likely to recognize you and your posts by your sig than your name or UID?
  4. Super Comet Fragment Impact Very Large Explosions by davidwr · · Score: 4, Funny

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

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  5. Good to see it doing it's job by spankyofoz · · Score: 4, Interesting

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

    --

    - There is no point, it's like a sphere -
    1. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by networkzombie · · Score: 5, Funny

      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."

    2. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by WindBourne · · Score: 4, Interesting

      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.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    3. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by fireheadca · · Score: 1

      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?

    4. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by tumutbound · · Score: 5, Funny

      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.

    5. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 2

      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.

      --
      Similar to the upcoming US election results
    6. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by malus314 · · Score: 1

      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...

    7. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by wellingj · · Score: 4, Interesting

      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....

      --
      Money is the root of all evil?
    8. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by bigbadvoo · · Score: 2, Informative

      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

    9. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by rs79 · · Score: 5, Funny

      " 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.

      --
      Need Mercedes parts ?
    10. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by rm999 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      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 ;)

    11. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by Fumus · · Score: 1

      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.

    12. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    13. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      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).

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    14. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by HasselhoffThePaladin · · Score: 1

      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.

    15. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by Fumus · · Score: 2, Insightful

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

    16. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by StikyPad · · Score: 1

      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

      --
      https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
    17. Re:Good to see it doing it's job by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      Similar to the upcoming US election results
  6. Dang by rlp · · Score: 5, Funny

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

    --
    [Insert pithy quote here]
    1. Re:Dang by mjwx · · Score: 4, Funny

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

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

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    2. Re:Dang by MichaelSmith · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      http://michaelsmith.id.au
    3. Re:Dang by Cylix · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      "You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra
    4. Re:Dang by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

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

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
    5. Re:Dang by w0mprat · · Score: 4, Funny

      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

      --
      After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
    6. Re:Dang by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1

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

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

    7. Re:Dang by Tumbleweed · · Score: 3, Funny

      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.

    8. Re:Dang by feyhunde · · Score: 1

      Use them Together, Use them in Peace.

      --
      I'd say more, but my guild is raiding.
    9. Re:Dang by niktemadur · · Score: 1

      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

      --
      Lil' Thindime, lilting a lacrimose lament, krashes the kwaint konfines of Kokonino Kounty
    10. Re:Dang by raind · · Score: 1

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

      --
      Get up!
    11. Re:Dang by Tony+Hoyle · · Score: 1

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

    12. Re:Dang by HertzaHaeon · · Score: 1

      Scientists should rename Uranus to end that silly joke.

      I propose the new name should be Urectum.

    13. Re:Dang by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I propose the new name should be Urectum.

      Rectum? You damn near killed 'em.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    14. Re:Dang by Naatach · · Score: 1

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

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

      --
      There may be no "I" in team, but there's also no "F" in way.
    15. Re:Dang by StikyPad · · Score: 1

      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...

      --
      https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
    16. Re:Dang by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      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".

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  7. Well that's why they're there... by s0litaire · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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... ^_^

    --
    Laters Sol "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
    1. Re:Well that's why they're there... by Vectronic · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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.

    2. Re:Well that's why they're there... by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 1

      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?

    3. Re:Well that's why they're there... by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      Jupiter and Saturn are (nearly) flat?

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    4. Re:Well that's why they're there... by brusk · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      .sig withheld by request
    5. Re:Well that's why they're there... by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 1

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

    6. Re:Well that's why they're there... by KahabutDieDrake · · Score: 1

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

    7. Re:Well that's why they're there... by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 2, Informative

      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.

    8. Re:Well that's why they're there... by tnk1 · · Score: 1

      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.

    9. Re:Well that's why they're there... by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    10. Re:Well that's why they're there... by Poorcku · · Score: 1

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

      --
      I take my children to see Madonna(..), but I never for once ever thought I was in the same business.Chris Rea.
    11. Re:Well that's why they're there... by sznupi · · Score: 2, Interesting

      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 )

      --
      One that hath name thou can not otter
    12. Re:Well that's why they're there... by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 1

      kekekekeke! ^-^

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    13. Re:Well that's why they're there... by fyrewulff · · Score: 1

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

      --
      "We need to get over this notion, that, for Apple to win... Microsoft must lose." - Steve Jobs, 1997
    14. Re:Well that's why they're there... by CheshireCatCO · · Score: 1

      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.

    15. Re:Well that's why they're there... by nickruiz · · Score: 1

      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.

    16. Re:Well that's why they're there... by cdombroski · · Score: 1

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

    17. Re:Well that's why they're there... by c6gunner · · Score: 1

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

    18. Re:Well that's why they're there... by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 1

      No. Please enlighten me.

    19. Re:Well that's why they're there... by kjllmn · · Score: 1

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

  8. I just hand an thought... by s0litaire · · Score: 5, Funny
    ...It's nearly 2010...

    and a dark spot is noticed on Jupiter...

    Now where did i put that monolith...

    --
    Laters Sol "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
    1. Re:I just hand an thought... by Darth_brooks · · Score: 4, Funny

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

      --
      There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
    2. Re:I just hand an thought... by murphyje · · Score: 1

      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.

  9. She just fell on the coffee table! by plasmacutter · · Score: 4, Funny

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

    --
    VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
    1. Re:She just fell on the coffee table! by Darth_brooks · · Score: 3, Funny

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

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

      --
      There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
  10. Yep, that's why God put em there by Weedhopper · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    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.

    1. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by spankyofoz · · Score: 4, Informative

      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)

      --

      - There is no point, it's like a sphere -
    2. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by SEWilco · · Score: 4, Funny

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

    3. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by Weedhopper · · Score: 1, Insightful

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

    4. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

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

    5. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by Weedhopper · · Score: 1

      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.

    6. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

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

    7. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by pentalive · · Score: 1

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

      no religious reference there.

    8. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by pentalive · · Score: 4, Funny

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

    9. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by ROMRIX · · Score: 1

      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!

    10. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by finity · · Score: 3, Funny

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

    11. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by Tumbleweed · · Score: 2, Funny

      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!

    12. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Very cool that it was captured (by an Aussie)

      Free the asteroid! Free the asteroid!

    13. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      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.

    14. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by wellingj · · Score: 1

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

      --
      Money is the root of all evil?
    15. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by devnulljapan · · Score: 2, Funny

      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?

    16. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by Weedhopper · · Score: 1

      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.

    17. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by wisdom_brewing · · Score: 1

      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 :)

      --
      I am very sucseptible to "let's have another drink"
    18. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by Ginger+Unicorn · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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.

      --
      (1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
    19. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by fireheadca · · Score: 1

      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.

    20. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by drinkypoo · · Score: 1, Informative

      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.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    21. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

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

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
    22. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by h4rm0ny · · Score: 1


      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).

      --

      Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
    23. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by vertinox · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      "I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
      -Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
    24. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by devnulljapan · · Score: 1

      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?

       

    25. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by StikyPad · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
    26. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by Bungie · · Score: 1

      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?

      --
      The clash of honour calls, to stand when others fall.
    27. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by Xyrus · · Score: 1

      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~

      --
      ~X~
    28. Re:Yep, that's why God put em there by mkarcher · · Score: 1

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

      Sixty-five million years ago.

      --

      These opinions are my own and not necessarily
      the opinions of God or any other supreme being.
  11. I hope it had collision insurance! by techmuse · · Score: 1

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

    1. Re:I hope it had collision insurance! by Cylix · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      "You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra
  12. Fuck you Jupiter! by deglr6328 · · Score: 4, Funny

    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!

    --
    - "Hear that?! The percolations are imminent! Cease your ingress!"
    1. Re:Fuck you Jupiter! by Tarlus · · Score: 1

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

      --
      /* No Comment */
    2. Re:Fuck you Jupiter! by TheDugong · · Score: 1

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

  13. No, not the first by davidwr · · Score: 4, Funny

    Jupiter's been impacted many many times before.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
    1. Re:No, not the first by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 1

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

      Do aeroplanes "impact" clouds?

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    2. Re:No, not the first by Sique · · Score: 1

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

      --
      .sig: Sique *sigh*
    3. Re:No, not the first by c0p0n · · Score: 2, Funny

      Pretty sure you mean "Uranus".

      --

      Your head a splode
    4. Re:No, not the first by crontabminusell · · Score: 1

      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?)

    5. Re:No, not the first by CorporateSuit · · Score: 1

      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).

      --
      I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
    6. Re:No, not the first by armareum · · Score: 1

      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?"

      --
      Is this a rhetorical question?
    7. Re:No, not the first by CorporateSuit · · Score: 1

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

      --
      I am the richest astronaut ever to win the superbowl.
  14. Who will be the first? by erroneus · · Score: 3, Funny

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

    1. Re:Who will be the first? by SEWilco · · Score: 1

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

    2. Re:Who will be the first? by Rhuragh · · Score: 2

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

  15. Hubble! by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Insightful

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

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:Hubble! by Tsaot · · Score: 1

      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.

    2. Re:Hubble! by Spikeles · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately it's still having issues

      --
      I don't need to test my programs.. I have an error correcting modem.
    3. Re:Hubble! by Tsaot · · Score: 1

      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.

    4. Re:Hubble! by rcw-home · · Score: 4, Informative

      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.

    5. Re:Hubble! by dotgain · · Score: 2, Funny

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

    6. Re:Hubble! by gaspyy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      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

    7. Re:Hubble! by dotgain · · Score: 2, Insightful
      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?

    8. Re:Hubble! by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      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.
         

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  16. My god, is full of... by gmuslera · · Score: 1

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

  17. Received transmission: by Chairboy · · Score: 5, Funny

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

  18. The gods are slugging it out by flyingfsck · · Score: 1

    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.

    --
    Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
  19. Jupiter is the king! by mister_playboy · · Score: 1

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

    --
    Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law ::: Love is the law, love under will
  20. Shit by The+Bungi · · Score: 1

    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??

    1. Re:Shit by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      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]
           

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  21. How to solve it by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 4, Funny

    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...

    1. Re:How to solve it by icannotthinkofaname · · Score: 1

      Apparently, it had enough KE.

      --
      Let q be a radix > 1. I am in ur base-q, killing 10 d00ds.
    2. Re:How to solve it by ebonum · · Score: 1

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

      I have tears in my eyes.

  22. A large dark spot forms on Jupiter... by Junior+J.+Junior+III · · Score: 5, Funny

    And the space station toilet is broken. Coincidence?

    --
    You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
  23. Gasp! You've solved our mission to Mars problem! by Tsaot · · Score: 3, Funny

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

  24. new site jupiter.samba.org by tridge · · Score: 5, Informative

    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

    1. Re:new site jupiter.samba.org by plover · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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.

      --
      John
    2. Re:new site jupiter.samba.org by ruiner13 · · Score: 1

      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!

      --

      today is spelling optional day.

  25. Just doing it's job by confused+one · · Score: 1

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

  26. Black Spots on Jupiter? by Penguinshit · · Score: 1, Funny

    There goes the neighborhood!

    --

    I have something in common with Stephen Hawking...

  27. It was probably the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. by HouseOfMisterE · · Score: 1

    That thing really gets around!

  28. Punchline forming... by rolando2424 · · Score: 1

    *insert your own Yo Momma joke here*

    --
    Okay seriously I've just run out of pointless things to say.
    1. Re:Punchline forming... by Tarlus · · Score: 1

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

      --
      /* No Comment */
    2. Re:Punchline forming... by slider2800 · · Score: 1

      That's exactly what SHE said!

      --
      return $sig;
  29. please use new URL by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    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

  30. Re:Super Comet Fragment Impact Very Large Explosio by Tumbleweed · · Score: 4, Funny

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

    Let's not.

  31. I SWEAR... by Phizzle · · Score: 1

    I DIDN'T DO IT!!!

    --
    I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
  32. pak chooie unf by plover · · Score: 1

    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.

    --
    John
    1. Re:pak chooie unf by Quirkz · · Score: 1
      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.

      --
      The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
    2. Re:pak chooie unf by plover · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      John
  33. Something May Have Just Hit Jupiter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Eeriest Slashdot story title of the year?

  34. OMG! Shooting planets out of the sky? by Runaway1956 · · Score: 3, Funny

    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.

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    1. Re:OMG! Shooting planets out of the sky? by Memroid · · Score: 1

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

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

    2. Re:OMG! Shooting planets out of the sky? by jnnnnn · · Score: 2, Insightful

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

    3. Re:OMG! Shooting planets out of the sky? by instagib · · Score: 1

      Profit for whom? Chiropractors?

    4. Re:OMG! Shooting planets out of the sky? by instagib · · Score: 1

      On the other hand, meteorism increases greenhouse gases.

  35. Re:This should be modded "Troll" ... by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.

    --
    Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
  36. Nice example for FOSS by plopez · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

    --
    putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
    1. Re:Nice example for FOSS by Sockatume · · Score: 1

      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.

      --
      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  37. Re:This should be modded "Troll" ... by Draek · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

    --
    No problem is insoluble in all conceivable circumstances.
  38. Is it the Hydrogues? by RazzleDazzle · · Score: 1

    And should we be worried?

    --
    ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ONE! Just brushing up for my next big invention: Ethernet over Voice (EoV)
    1. Re:Is it the Hydrogues? by yahwotqa · · Score: 1

      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. :)

  39. Re:thats nice and all by DigiShaman · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

    --
    Life is not for the lazy.
  40. No religious reference? by kumanopuusan · · Score: 1

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

    --
    Use of the words "good", "bad" or "evil" is almost invariably the result of oversimplification.
  41. Re:thats nice and all by ls671 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    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 ! ;-))

    --
    Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
  42. Jupiter being naughty again? by ldpercy · · Score: 4, Funny

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

  43. Re:thats nice and all by DeusExCalamus · · Score: 1, Interesting

    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!

    --
    "...Sleep comes like a drug in God's country Sad eyes, crooked crosses in God's country..."
  44. Re:Jupiter is a Gas Giant by radon28 · · Score: 1

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

  45. Re:This should be modded "Troll" ... by ZeroExistenZ · · Score: 1

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

    Sounds like that hit close to home...

    --
    I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
  46. Re:thats nice and all by fork_daemon · · Score: 1

    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.

  47. south pole by mathfeel · · Score: 4, Funny

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

    --
    The only possible interpretation of any research whatever in the 'social sciences' is: some do, some don't
  48. Re:Jupiter is a Gas Giant by Ihlosi · · Score: 2, Interesting
    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.

  49. Re:Super Comet Fragment Impact Very Large Explosio by Ogive17 · · Score: 1

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

    --
    "Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
  50. Re:Jupiter is a Gas Giant by argent · · Score: 1

    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?

  51. Google Failbot by argent · · Score: 1

    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

  52. Re:This should be modded "Troll" ... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    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.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  53. impact confirmed from JPL by cadience · · Score: 1

    "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.

  54. Re:thats nice and all by CheshireCatCO · · Score: 2, Informative

    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.

  55. Me. I hit Jupiter... by Yeff · · Score: 1

    And I was clearly provoked.

    --
    "Freedom Through Vigilance"
  56. Re:thats nice and all by antonyb · · Score: 5, Funny

    Out of interest, where else have you watched documentaries?

    Ant.

  57. Re:Jupiter is a Gas Giant by agw · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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.

  58. maybe Jupiter is being studied. by DragonTHC · · Score: 1

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

    --
    They're using their grammar skills there.
  59. Re:upside down? by BrightSpark · · Score: 1

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

  60. If you look at old pics of Jupiter... by dm513 · · Score: 2, Informative

    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...

  61. It wasn't me. Really! by gestalt_n_pepper · · Score: 1

    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.

    --
    Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
  62. Re:thats nice and all by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

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

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  63. Re:thats nice and all by silent_artichoke · · Score: 3, Funny

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

  64. Re:upside down? by bossanovalithium · · Score: 1

    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.

  65. Re:This should be modded "Troll" ... by yurtinus · · Score: 1

    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?!

    --
    +1 Disagree
  66. Re:thats nice and all by Ohrion · · Score: 1

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

  67. Yeah by davidwr · · Score: 1

    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/.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  68. Asteroid confirmed by mhaskell · · Score: 1

    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.

  69. Natural Selection by PleaseFearMe · · Score: 1

    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.

  70. Paging CleverNickName by silverspell · · Score: 1
    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.

  71. My favorite headline so far.. by niktemadur · · Score: 1

    Yup. Jupiter got served.

    --
    Lil' Thindime, lilting a lacrimose lament, krashes the kwaint konfines of Kokonino Kounty
  72. Re:Gasp! You've solved our mission to Mars problem by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 1

    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.