Fifteen years ago, a whirl of activity surrounded our solar system's largest planet, Jupiter. The comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was observed breaking apart and slamming into the gas giant's atmosphere, leaving easily observable though temporary gashes in its orange and brown banding. Astronomers the world over watched the rare collision with excitement. There were even postulations that collision could ignite Jupiter's atmosphere, turning the massive planet into a miniature star. This, of course, did not come to pass.

Almost as if chance is just a funny idea, an amateur astronomer yesterday observed another dark area on the planet's opaque atmosphere, a clear indicator that another large object had made some personal contact.

After receiving the tip from Anthony Wesley of Australia, NASA's JPL astronomers went into overdrive, pointing the keen eyes of the Infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, at the King. They have been rewarded with some very clear images of the collision area in several infrared bands.

The astronomers aren't sure what the impact was at this time and may never know, but many are pleased with the amazing images being gathered. Jupiter just happened to be at a point in its revolution to grant such clear images of the event's aftermath.

With the 15th anniversary of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet collision and the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing just come to pass in the last few days, the new impact on Jupiter polishes off a one-of-a-kind weekend for astronomy. We may never know the identity of the object or objects that struck Jupiter yesterday, but thanks to the hard work of NASA's astronomers and the Infrared Telescope Facility staff, we can enjoy the stunning images it produced.