The stars, planets and other celestial bodies are constantly moving through the Universe. Although some astronomical phenomena may go unnoticed, many others are captured in photographs and videos, causing great admiration among scientists and the general population.
Fortunately, an astrophotographer managed to capture the moment when a meteorite hit the largest planet in our solar system: Jupiter.
This happened on August 7 when astrophotographer Ethan Chappel, who lives in Texas, was taking a series of photos and videos of Jupiter with a specialized camera to capture the planet in detail.
Upon reviewing the images, the man noticed that there was a white flash near the lower left side of Jupiter, just below the Ecuadorian line.
Soon, Chappel realized that the flash could have originated from an impact against the southern equatorial belt, so he knew that he should share the information obtained.
After analyzing it, the experts concluded that the flash came from a racing car, that is, a meteorite that exploded in the air after entering Jupiter’s atmosphere.
The cars are very common on Earth, but they are usually very small stones, so they disintegrate when they reach the atmosphere.
In Jupiter, the presence of racing cars and asteroids is also not unusual. In reality, the impact rate is usually between 2,000 and 8,000 times more than on Earth.
Chappel was praised by various astronomers thanks to his feat, as it is not always possible to capture these types of phenomena. It is definitely something impressive.