Hubble captures view of scarred Jupiter

BALTIMORE — NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope is offering a glimpse of atmospheric debris from an object that plunged into Jupiter in a rare collision with the planet.

Scientists used the telescope Thursday to capture what they call the “sharpest visible-light picture” so far of the expanding gash. An amateur stargazer in Australia spotted the impression last Sunday.

Amy Simon-Miller of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said the magnitude of the impact is believed to be rare. Simon-Miller estimates the diameter of the object that hit the planet was the size of several football fields.

The debris possibly came from a comet or asteroid that hit Jupiter.

NASA also said the new images prove repairs done on the Hubble in May were successful.