Now, as we know, jupiter's surface is covered in gaseous hydrogen; and we suspect that deeper down it will be liquid metallic hydrogen. Is it possible that a meteor struck the atmosphere of jupiter at a steep angle - slicing through the hydrogen layer and popping out of the other flank of the planet, leaving behind a large spot that has taken millennia to refill.
Just imagine, for decades Jupiter would have had a hole running right through its side. It's a shame that we didn't have the opportunity to send a probe in there.
Michael Kelly
would make sense with the smaller spot on the right as an entry wound and the larger spot as an exit...
Connor Stewart
Probably not.
Comets constantly crash into Jupiter, and by "crash" I mean they break into literal bits due to Jupiter's force.
You are underestimating the size and power of the planet.
Wasn't it confirmed that it's a huge hurricane anyway?
Josiah Diaz
That's an interesting theory. Maybe it was made by a big ass asteroid (dinosaur extinction level) going too fast to break up and hit extremely hard, and the hole left from the impact caused gas to pour in, starting a storm, and it spread from there.
Also, nice post number!
Adrian Powell
It would take something massive to actually penetrate jupiters atmosphere to that level
Hudson Nguyen
Like, how massive?
Carter Bennett
Almost as massive as ur mum.
Colton Martin
So 150lbs?
Carson Richardson
Yeah that sounds about right.
Jacob Hall
I remember in the early 90s when pop-science alarmists thought shoemaker levy was going to ignite Jupiter into a second sun. People are dumb and I hate them.
James Wood
I think the asteroid must be a little bit bigger than that?
Ian Roberts
It has a very large volume
Matthew Gray
>pop-science alarmists thought shoemaker levy was going to ignite Jupiter into a second sun
But surely there's no oxygen to burn on jupiter?
Nolan Cooper
a small planet, maybe about the mass of our moon?
Luis Sanders
Weird. I had a dream last night of visiting a moon of Jupiter.
Leo Nelson
I'm pretty sure that's just it's anus
Thomas Bailey
For you
Jace Garcia
The process that forms stars doesn't require oxygen. It's not fire; it's fusion.
Brody James
But what if OP was implying that it was hit by a large meteor. Considering what Jupiter's gravity does to comets, and the size of the hole compared to the planet. The meteor could have been bigger than earth. And while entering left a big hole. While under the clouds decaying and simply destroying. Leaving out the other end smaller than before.
Hunter Walker
Considering the spot is as large as earth it must have been huge. Another insteresting question would be if the gas on jupiter reacts to impacts the way rocky planets do where a small object can create a large impact zone.
Wyatt Long
if the planets surface acts like a liquid or gas then the meteor would have to be big, but not enormous, to create such an effect. Think about how big the ripple is in water when you throw a pebble in.
Ethan Sanchez
Possible. I would suspect something more 'moon' sized than asteroid size though.