Amateur astronomer George Hall captured this image of an
apparent impact on Jupiter while recording video telescope
observations of the planet on Sept. 10, 2012, from Dallas.
Image: George Hall/George's Astrophotography An apparent impact
on Jupiter early Monday (Sept. 10) created a fireball on the
planet so large and bright that amateur astronomers on Earth
spotted the flash. The surprising impact on Jupiter was first
reported by amateur astronomer Dan Peterson of Racine, Wisc.,
who was observing the largest planet in our solar system when
the event occurred, according to the website Spaceweather.com,
which tracks space weather and night sky events. "It was a
bright flash that lasted only 1.5 – 2 seconds," Peterson told
Spaceweather.com. Peterson used a Meade 12-inch LX200GPS
telescope to observe the event, which occurred near the southern
edge of Jupiter's northern equatorial belt of clouds. In a
report posted on the Cloudy Nights forum, Peterson said it
wasn't clear if the impact would leave a scar on Jupi