Jupiter the cleaner

The biggest planet in the Solar system functions as our biggest protector, sweeping up all sorts of debris and deflecting potential threats in the form of asteroids and meteors thanks to its massive size and gravity.

Last week, it performed its duties once more:

On the third week of July 1994, comet Shoemaker-Levy crashed into Jupiter's fiery atmosphere. NASA says that another "mystery space object" hit during the same week but 15 years later, leaving a bruise as big as the Pacific Ocean.

Judging by the series of images taken by Hubble's newly-installed Wide Field Camera 3, the current theory is that the object was a 1,600-foot wide asteroid. Analysis of the angle and size of the bruise reveals that the mystery object possibly came from the Hilda belt, a group of 1,100 asteroids orbiting near Jupiter.

Now take a look at the image above and at the detail of the black ‘scar’ caused by the impact.  That little dot you see is the size of the Pacific Ocean.

Now picture Earth right next to Jupiter.

You can close your mouth now.