A giant meteor punched into the planet Jupiter's atmosphere earlier this month.

Scientist believe the meteor burned up above the clouds and didn't hit the planet's surface.

An Australian amateur astronomer was the first person to spot the meteor. He noticed a small flash while looking at Jupiter with his telescope.

"When I saw the flash, I couldn't believe it," said Anthony Wesley. "The fireball lasted about 2 seconds and was very bright."

Wesley notified the collision to professional and amateur sky-gazers. The impact was later confirmed by another amateur astronomer in the Philippines.

The explosion was so bright it could be seen 400 million miles away.

An even bigger meteor hit the fifth planet in the solar system last year. Jupiter is the largest planet within the system.

According to Wickipedia, the online encyclopedia, it is a gas giant with a mass slightly less than one-thousandth of the Sun, but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our solar system combined.

The planet was known by astronomers of ancient times and was associated with the mythology and religious beliefs of many cultures.