Amateur astronomer captures Jupiter flash

A flash of light believed to be caused by astral matter colliding with Jupiter has been captured on camera by an amateur astronomer in Japan.

Video footage depicting the unusual flash of light was recorded by amateur stargazer Masayuki Tachikawa at his home in Kumamoto City, southern Japan.

It is the third sighting of flashes of light on Jupiter this year, with similar reports by astronomers based in the Philippines and Australia.

In a reflection of the significance of the latest discovery, officials at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) have reported the incident to the International Astronomical Union.

Junichi Watanabe, a professor at the NAOJ, told Kyodo News: "This kind of footage is rarely filmed."

It was in the early hours of Saturday morning that Mr Tachikawa, 52, recorded a glow that lasted for around two seconds near Jupiter's equator using a video telescope at his home.

"I took it for noise signals at first but I was really surprised because the image of the light remained on the video," Mr Tachikawa said.

Astronomers believe that the astral body that hit Jupiter was most likely less than 1km in width as there was no trace left after the flash subsided.

With the rise of sophisticated telescopic equipment on the market, a growing number of amateur astronomers are making significant planetary observations.

In June, amateur planet-watchers also captured on camera a similar fireball that seemed to hit into Jupiter with a flash.

Further investigations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope concluded that this flash was caused by a giant meteor as it plunged into the atmosphere surrounding Jupiter.