Citizen Scientists Find Fireballs In Jupiter's Atmosphere
Sunday, September 22, 2013 - 11:40
in Astronomy & Space
The solar system is crowded with small objects like asteroids and comets and most have stable orbits which keep them out of harm’s way, but a small proportion of them are in orbits that risk collision with planets.Smaller objects are more numerous and therefore more frequent collisions. The recent meteor seen over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in February 2013, was rare because the object was relatively large, around 17 meters across. However, the giant planet Jupiter is a much bigger target due to its tremendous gravitational attraction -- and it gets hit far more often than the Earth. The collisions are much faster, happen at a minimum speed of 60 kilometers per second. read more