Unobserved collision on Jupiter sparks new controversy

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An unseen comet or possibly an icy asteroid apparently crashed into Jupiter's atmosphere near the giant planet's south pole sometime during the last few days, creating a "gargantuan" blemish easily visible from Earth.

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The presumed impact, discovered by Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley July 19 and confirmed by NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, came almost 15 years to the day after multiple fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter in 1994.

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An impact "scar" on Jupiter (near the south pole at the top of the image), as photographed by Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley July 19.

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(Credit: Anthony Wesley)"We're not sure how large this fragment could have been," Leigh Fletcher, a researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., told CNET.

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"But it certainly had the energy and the momentum that was sizable enough that when it hit the upper atmospheric layers of Jupiter, it created a kind of splash of material that lofted aerosols and gases and various other particulates to really high altitudes."

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The scar left in Jupiter's atmosphere is roughly the size of an atmospheric feature known as the "little red spot," a long-lasting storm nearly the size of Earth.

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But because the collision was never observed, this has sparked a new debate between creationists and scientists.Error

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The presumed impact on Jupiter near the South Pole discovered by amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley on July 19 almost immediately sparked another controversy between creationists and prominent scientists.

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"The fact of the matter is no one saw the impact happened," Ken Ham, founder of Answers In Genesis-USA, a leading non-profit American Christian apologetics ministry with a particular focus on Young Earth creationism and a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis.

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"For all we know, the scar on Jupiter could have been created at the moment of creation. I don't understand how anyone can automatically assume this was an impact site. There was never a transitional impact site found where there was half an impact site and half a normal site. I am simply not convinced there was ever an impact at all."

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Read more of the article at the link.Edited by Taz, : No reason given.

Is this satire? The CNN link I clicked on was not a valid site link.

From today's NYT: Amateur Finds New Earth-Sized Blot on JupiterThe quote from Bruce Chapman looks made up. It's something a creationist would say, not an IDist.--Percy

Not that I hadn't seen the images of Earth next to Jupiter before, but that picture in the article you provided really shows how small Earth is in comparison.I'd hate to think of an impact with Earth.

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NASA has confirmed the discovery of a new scar the size of the Earth in Jupiter’s atmosphere, apparently showing that the planet was hit by something large in recent days.

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- Oni

What are you talking about? Senility came early for you? The quote from othe article came from Ken Ham.

Link works just fine for me.

I think someone is taking a few liberties. The photo in the article shows Jupiter to have 31 times the radius of the blemish. That's the size of Mercury.

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Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions. Ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them.

I get a Page Not Found page on cnn.com.

This has to be a joke... But I must admit, I got a chuckle out of it. Hey Oni, this could make for some good stand-up material.

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"Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear." Thomas Jefferson

The link doesn't work for me either. I'd love to read it. The amateur astronomer who first spotted the scar on Jupiter is over the moon . . . so to speak . . .