Fact Sheet
Jovian Smash-up
A dark scar shows where a small comet or asteroid slammed into Jupiter around July 19. The scar, which was photographed with a new camera aboard Hubble Space Telescope, is almost as wide as Earth. It is similar to the scars created when Comet Shoemaker/Levy 9 hit the planet in 1994. It may take weeks for the atmosphere to return to normal and the dark scar to disappear. [NASA/ESA/H. Hammel(STScI)/Jupiter Impact Team]
|