Amateur Astronomers Accidentally Record This Slamming into Jupiter

An asteroid or comet just slammed into Jupiter, and two amateur astronomers caught it on video.

Video shows Jupiter as recorded by Gerrit Kernbauer, an amateur astronomer in Austria. He accidentally recorded a major impact on the huge planet.

John McKeon, who lives in Ireland, also captured footage of the cosmic collision.

"Amateur astronomers make fundamental contributions to astronomy research, and this recent observation of an impact on Jupiter is a perfect example of why," Emily Lakdawalla, senior editor at the Planetary Society, told Mashable.

"Professional astronomers have only limited time on large telescopes," she explained, "which means that they can take exquisitely detailed observations but can't spend long staring at one target in the sky; time on major telescopes is simply too valuable."
    
Jupiter is often hit by space rocks because of its huge gravity.
    
Slate magazine points out that Jupiter's gravity will pull in space objects five times faster than would hit Earth.
    
Astronomers have long been concerned that an asteroid or comet could slam into Earth and cause potentially enormous damage.