Shoemaker-Levy 9

Shoemaker-Levy 9 was a comet that collided with Jupiter in 1994, providing the first direct observation of the collision of two non-terrestrial Sol System objects. The comet provided many revelations about Jupiter and its atmosphere, and highlighted Jupiter's role in reducing space debris in the inner Sol System. The comet was discovered by astronomers Carolyn and Eugene M. Shoemaker and David Levy on 24 March 1993. It was the first comet observed to be orbiting a planet rather than the sun. Shoemaker-Levy 9 was in 21 pieces, ranging in size up to 2 kilometres in diameter, and these fragments collided with Jupiter's southern hemisphere between 16 and 22 July 1994 at a speed of approximately 60 kilometres per second. The prominent scars from the impacts could be seen on Jupiter for many months after the impact.
On 28 October 2144, in a speech to the World Congress in the Hague, astronomer Dr. Winston Rylo revealed that isotope analysis indicated that the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet was actually debris left over from the hollowing-out of the Rylo-7 asteroid in the orbit of Europa in the late 20th century.
Category:Space