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Astronomers have called for help to confirm a mystery object that may have hit Saturn last week.
Space has been keeping astronomers busy with worrying news lately.
This year alone, NASA continues to track a 'city destroying' asteroid 500 times more powerful than the Hiroshima atomic bomb, while scientists have located a mystery object that could hurtle its way through our solar system without stopping.
Now, astronomers have what appears to be the first recorded video of a space object crashing into Saturn.
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While studies suggest that large, kilometre-long objects strike the ringed planet approximately once every 3,125 years on average, and data indicates that seven or eight smaller space rocks hit the planet annually, none have been successfully observed in the act until now.
Unlike rocky planets, where asteroid impacts leave lasting craters that scientists can study, gas giants like Saturn and Jupiter don't leave such noticeable signs.
NASA employee and amateur astronomer Mario Rana was monitoring Saturn as part of the DeTeCt project when she observed the impact. The DeTeCt initiative uses computer software to analyse images and videos of gas giants searching for these kinds of rare events.
Last Saturday (5 July), Rana's footage of Saturn captured a faint glow on the left side of the planet, suggesting a potential impact.
However, some experts, such as The Planetary Virtual Observatory and Laboratory (PVOL), are reluctant to declare this a confirmed impact.
“Marc Delcroix reports a potential impact in Saturn captured in a few frames in a video observation obtained by Mario Rana," PVOL stated. "The potential impact would be very faint and is unconfirmed."
The consortium added: “The very short impact flash occurred on Saturn on 5 July 2025, between 9am and 9.15am UT. It is very important to get other videos of Saturn taken during that time frame.”
In response, PVOL has made an urgent appeal to any other astronomers who might have been observing Saturn during that brief 15-minute window on 5 July, adding contact information for researchers to submit their data.
Dr. Leigh Fletcher, a planetary science professor at the University of Leicester, took to social media to broaden the appeal.
“Amplifying the call from Marc Delcroix and co over the weekend: the team are looking to verify/refute a potential impact on Saturn on 5 July, 9am to 9.15am UT,” Dr. Fletcher wrote on BlueSky. “Videos taken by amateur observers at that time might hold the key.”
If confirmed, this footage could help scientists better understand collision patterns around Saturn and help us assess cosmic threats to other planets in our solar system, including Earth.
