Because space is just amazing, astronomers in Hawaii announced today that they've found a planet 170 light-years away from Earth that is more than thirteen times larger than the largest planet in our solar system (that's Jupiter, for those of you just tuning in). They've also managed to take a photo of its surface, which is a fairly rare occurrence, and the rest of us get to benefit from living in the really tremendous kind of era where anyone can just look at photographs taken in outer space over lunch at our desks.

For the second time this summer, amateur astronomers recorded an impact on Jupiter—big enough to be seen from earth. Is it an asteroid? Or an alien? Well, almost definitely an asteroid (or comet) nucleus. But judge for yourself!

Whoa! Something just hit Jupiter! The impact—which must have been huge to be visible on earth—was recorded by two different amateur astronomers, one in Australia and one in the Philippines. Was it... an alien vessel?? (No.)

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Looking at the night sky in Florida last week, I remarked at a tall radio tower's two steady lights. My mom informed me that they were, in fact, the planets Jupiter and Venus (and that I was an idiot), brightly shining in conjunction for the first time in three years, and the last time for the next five. Our tech fellow Ian Van Ness snapped this photo of the occurrence from Gawker HQ's roof deck in New York City last night. Supposedly these two celestial bodies are good luck planets (especially for you Capricorns, Virgos, and Tauruses), so this alignment is auspicious. In Asia it looks like a smiley face, with the moon! These are some bad luck times, but maybe the swirling heavens can confer upon us some measure of good fortune. At the very least, they're pretty to look at. Click through for larger.