Anthony Wesley (born 1965 or 1966)[1] is an Australiancomputer programmer andamateur astronomer, known for his discoveries of the 2009 and 2010 Jupiter impact events.
Wesley was born inGlen Innes, Australia in 1965.[2] At as early as ten years old, he was given a small telescope, which sparked his interest in stargazing.[3] By 2003 Wesley had become involved in planetary photography. Over time his work became more focused on Jupiter, leading to his discoveries of the 2009 and 2010 impact events.[1] Prior to these discoveries, scientists did not believe impacts of this relatively small size could be observed from Earth.[2] Wesleys' work also brought to light the vital role amateur astronomers play in space discovery.[1][4]
On 19 July 2009 at approximately 13:30, Wesley found fame after discovering a scar near Jupiter's south pole the size of the Pacific Ocean.[1] Wesley discovered the impact at approximately 13:30UTC on On 19 July 2009 (almost exactly 15 years after the Jupiter impact ofcomet Shoemaker-Levy 9, or SL9), Wesley discovered an impact on Jupiter that caused a black spot in the planet's atmosphere. He was at his homeobservatory just outsideMurrumbateman, New South Wales, Australia, using stacked images on a 36.8-centimetre (14.5 in) diameterreflecting telescope equipped with a low light machine vision video camera attached to the telescope.[5]
On 3 June 2010, Wesley was away from his home visiting a friend, when with a 37-centimetre (15 in) telescope he took an image of a small celestial object burning up in the Jupiter atmosphere.[2] The observed flash lasted about two seconds.[1] The object was believed to be an asteroid, making it the first image of a meteorite hitting a planet.[4]
The find was praised byNASA and fellow astronomers, who were under the impression that after the 1994 collision another would not be expected for several hundred years.[1][4]