Potential Impact On Saturn
Astronomers Appeal For Help As Video Appears To Show Object Hitting The Gas Giant
On July 5, between 9:00 and 9:15 UTC, something appears to have hit Saturn. If verified, it will be the first ever to be caught on camera.
Read the full article here at IFLScience
Astronomers at the Planetary Virtual Observatory and Laboratory (PVOL) are appealing for help, after an image taken by NASA's Mario Rana appears to show an object slamming into Saturn.
Saturn, like Jupiter, is a gas giant. With their impressive masses, you would expect these giants to attract their share of asteroid impacts. Unlike terrestrial planets, which are usually left with an obvious crater after impact, on gas giants, it is not entirely obvious. With outer layers primarily composed of hydrogen and helium, any trace of an impact can disappear.
The bright flash highlighted in the left side of the picture has the appearance of an impact event. Objects have been observed slamming into Jupiter every now and then, producing similar flashes.
While exciting, it is far from confirmed. PVOL is now appealing for further observations taken this morning in an attempt to confirm or refute the potential impact.
There is also a brief report of this discovery at Space Weather News, but not much else is known yet.
Did they assess/rule out possibility of a discharge phenomenon?