If you think that the asteroid peril is gamy on Earth , you would n’t want to be on Jupiter . accord to preliminary results , the largest planet in the Solar System is hit on average 6.5 times every twelvemonth .
This latest estimation , though , give at an international workshop on Jupiter , in reality significantly reduces the expected phone number of shock on the gas giant from late studies . Revaluating this number was only possible thanks to the encompassing observations of Jupiter by a group of 60 non - professional astronomers around the world .
The value of 6.5 was calculated statistically ground on the few ascertained impact compare to the many observations of Jupiter . If more than 6.5 impacts happened every year , we should have detected many more .
“ Dramatic impacts with Jupiter can be captured with stock amateurish equipment and analyzed with promiscuous - to - enjoyment software package , ” said Marc Delcroix , who coordinates the group of astronomers , in astatement . “ But to get a good estimate of how often these events take place , we need observers around the man who are willing to collaborate to make a program of more - or - less uninterrupted monitoring of Jupiter . ”
The monitoring of Jupiter by the group started 3 twelvemonth ago . They pull in more than 1,344 hours of footage in 53,000 videos , which were analyzed by other citizen scientists from Europe , the U.S. , and Australia . In the video recording , they did n’t find a single fireball .
It might sound peculiar , but not view something is just as scientifically important as assure something . The group was capable to provide an extensive but not at all complete surveillance of Jupiter , enough to provide statistic on the number of impact . If impact were more common they would have seen them .
Theprojectwas set up by Isshi Tabe and Dr. Jun - chi Watanabe following the observations of a fireball hitting Jupiter on August 20 , 2010 , by four Nipponese amateur astronomer . include this one , there have only been four recorded impact on Jupiter .
Previous bolide flash were spotted when comet Shoemaker - Levy collided in 1996 , and during the 2009 impact . The latest one was observed onMarch 17 this yearby amateur astronomers Gerrit Kernbauer and John McKeon . McKeon was luckily filming Jupiter at the time , so there ’s capture footage of the impact as it happened .
More observation run are currently planned to both refine the estimate and potentially spy more fireball . Jupiter is think to protect the central Solar System from large impacts , so understand exactly what goes on will conduce to a mysterious understanding of how the planets and planetesimal interact in the Solar System .
