Hubble Images Show Debris From Jupiter Collision

Published January 14, 2015

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is offering a glimpse of atmospheric debris from an object that plunged into Jupiter in a rare collision with the planet.

Scientists used the telescope Thursday to capture what they call the "sharpest visible-light picture" so far of the expanding gash. An amateur stargazer in Australia spotted the impression last Sunday.

Amy Simon-Miller of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., says the magnitude of the impact is believed to be rare. Simon-Miller estimates the diameter of the object that hit the planet was the size of several football fields.

The debris possibly came from a comet or asteroid that hit Jupiter.

NASA also says the new images prove repairs done on the Hubble in May were successful.

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