Small impacts on the giant planet Jupiter
R. Hueso, M. Delcroix, A. S\'anchez-Lavega, S. Pedranghelu, G., Kernbauer, J. McKeon, A. Fleckstein, A. Wesley, J.M. G\'omez-Forrellad, J.F., Rojas, J. Juaristi

TL;DR
Amateur astronomer observations over eight years reveal small impacts on Jupiter, allowing estimation of impact rates, object sizes, and their contribution to the planet's exogenous material, with implications for future impact detection.
Contribution
This study provides new analysis of impact flashes on Jupiter, estimating impact rates and object sizes, based on recent observations and light curve analysis.
Findings
Impact rate of 5-20 m objects is 10-65 impacts per year.
Only a small fraction of impacts are observable from Earth.
Impacts contribute negligibly to Jupiter's exogenous species.
Abstract
Video observations of Jupiter obtained by amateur astronomers over the past eight years have shown five flashes of light of 1-2 s. The first three of these events occurred on 3 June 2010, 20 August 2010, and 10 September 2012. Previous analyses showed that they were caused by the impact of objects of 5-20 m in diameter, depending on their density, with a released energy comparable to superbolides on Earth of the class of the Chelyabinsk airburst. The most recent two flashes on Jupiter were detected on 17 March 2016 and 26 May 2017 and are analyzed here. We characterize the energy involved together with the masses and sizes of the objects that produced these flashes. The rate of similar impacts on Jupiter provides improved constraints on the total flux of impacts on the planet, which can be compared to the amount of exogenic species detected in the upper atmosphere of Jupiter. We…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAstro and Planetary Science · Planetary Science and Exploration · Space Exploration and Technology
