D/1993 F2 (Shoemaker-Levy 9)

Author(s): Art Blos gradius_fanatic

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Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is a comet that broke into at least 21 fragments due to its close encounter with Jupiter in 1992. It has garnered the interest of many astronomers as it was predicted to collide with Jupiter on July 1994. It was speculated that it was a short-period comet that was captured by Jupiter's gravity sometime in the 1970s, and measured about 5 km in diameter before its 1992 break-up. The collision events contributed greatly to the knowledge that Jupiter's strong gravitational influence decreases the chances of asteroid/comet impacts to occur particularly on Earth

The comet's discovery image, 1992

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's fragments as seen by Hubble, May 1994

A few days before first impact, Jul 1994

Infrared image of the impact taken by the Max Planck Institute, Jul 1994

Fragment W's impact as seen by Galileo, Jul 1994

The scars left in the aftermath of the impacts, Aug 1994

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