SALT LAKE CITY — Something strange just happened to Jupiter.
Amateur astronomer Ethan Chappelnoticed a bright flash on Jupiter while using his backyard telescope to look at the planet, according to CNET. He noticed a white spot on the lower left side of the gas giant.
“While it has yet to be confirmed by a second observer, it looks like a large asteroid crashing into the gas giant planet. The flash is brief and quickly fades away, boosting the idea that it was likely caused by an impact,” according to CNET.
Astronomer Dr. Heidi B. Hammel noticed Chappel’s findings and reacted to them on Twitter.
“Another impact on Jupiter today!” Hammel tweeted, adding that the flash was likely a meteor that was unlikely to leave debris like SL9, a comet that hit Jupiter in 1994, CNET reports.
Earlier this week, NASA showed off new pictures of Jupiter, which were taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, according to SlashGear. The photos show clouds with a “vibrant color” surrounding Jupiter’s giant red storm, which is shrinking, SlashGear reports.
“Scientist have no idea why the Great Red Spot is shrinking and continue to observe Jupiter (to) try and learn why. The various other white and brown spots in the clouds of Jupiter are much smaller storms and can last for a few hours or centuries,” according to SlashGear.
Two other white spots on Jupiter are “anticyclonic storms,” according to ScienceAlert.
“These storms can hang around for years, sometimes merging into each other to form a Frankenstorm (not really the official name; it’s just a bigger storm),” ScienceAlert reported.