A video circulating on social media captures the dramatic scene of an asteroid crashing into Jupiter, leaving viewers feeling uneasy.
Remarkably, this footage is not a computer-generated simulation. It actually depicts a significant event from 1994.
The event involved Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which marked the first time a collision between two bodies in our solar system was observed, captivating astronomers around the globe.
Under Jupiter’s intense gravitational force, the comet was torn into several smaller pieces, some measuring up to 2km across, before ultimately impacting the planet.
These 21 fragments collided with Jupiter between July 16 and July 22, traveling at an astonishing speed of about 60km/s.
The impacts were far from gentle. The force of these collisions was akin to 300 million atomic bombs, with plumes from the impact rising up to 1,900 to 3,000 km high.
Social media users are expressing relief that Earth rarely faces such catastrophic scenarios. Giant planets like Jupiter play a crucial role in shielding Earth from extinction-level asteroid impacts.
Nonetheless, the event has prompted Reddit users to reflect on the precarious nature of cosmic safety. One user commented: “Imagining how big that asteroid is is scary. Compared to Jupiter… you know, the biggest planet we have.”
Another user pondered deeply after viewing the clip, remarking: “Yes! The scariest thing for me is this: the universe just keeps ticking along as if nothing happened. I’ve always thought of the extinction of humanity as an event that would leave a lot of relics, a lot of things to be dug up in millions of years by other forms of life.
“But from this video, maybe not. The sum total of all of our history, culture, and knowledge could be here one low resolution frame and gone the next. No one in the universe would even know.”
Another user shared a similar sentiment: “Freaks me out thinking one day earth will be 100% gone. Every thing ever made, thought of, experienced will just not exist.
“And then even further (much further,) down the line the universe probably won’t even exist. “We get such a small amount of time to witness the beauty of what the universe has created and for the most part we spend it so poorly.
“And now im full of existential dread. Thanks reddit!
And contrastingly, a simpler response was: “Life is terrifying.”