Explosion spotted on Jupiter

An amateur astronomer was looking at Jupiter from his backyard when he spotted a bright white flash on the surface of the planet.

The astronomer, Dan Peterson from Racine, Wisconsin, said that the event occurred on Monday morning. According to Business Insider, Peterson said that the explosion lasted for around 2 seconds. He also said that the explosion seemed to be maybe 100-miles wide. According to National Geographic, another astronomer also said that they saw the explosion. Both agree that they witnessed either a comet or a large meteor hitting Jupiter. Amy Simon Miller, of NASA, said that the only thing they have to go off of is the two independent reports that they received. She went onto say that official observations are going to have to wait. According to Huffington Post, the impact is the fourth report of an object striking Jupiter since 2009. Miller said that as of now they do not know the exact size or nature of whatever it was that struck Jupiter. She did say that based on the brightness of the flash, it was probably a little bit bigger than the one seen back in 2010.