Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9: A Spectacular Good-bye

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9: A Spectacular Good-bye
▪ 1995

      In March 1993 a previously unknown comet caught the attention of veteran comet spotters Carolyn and Eugene Shoemaker and David Levy. (See BIOGRAPHIES (Shoemaker, Carolyn and Eugene, and Levy, David ).) Most unusual about Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was its appearance; it looked like a string of glowing pearls. An early image made with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) revealed about 21 major separate cometary fragments strung out in a line. Calculations showed that the comet had broken up as the result of a near collision with the planet Jupiter in July 1992 and that the pieces would plunge into Jupiter's southern hemisphere between July 16 and July 22, 1994. The largest pieces, with diameters estimated at about four kilometres, were predicted to unleash an energy equivalent to several million megatons of TNT each during their plunge into Jupiter's atmosphere at speeds of 60 km per second (a kilometre is about 0.62 mi).

      The comet's dazzling demise began right on time. It likely attracted more observations than any other astronomical event in history. Unfortunately, the impacts occurred, as predicted, a few degrees behind the darkened limb of Jupiter. Earth-bound telescopes and near-Earth satellites recorded the consequences as the impact sites were carried into view by Jupiter's 10-hour rotation shortly after the actual events occurred. The Galileo spacecraft, heading for Jupiter, had the only direct view of the show. The G-fragment impact, one of the largest, produced a set of dark rings in Jupiter's atmosphere resembling a black eye. Within hours it had swelled to twice the size of the Earth. Days later the site was the most prominent feature on Jupiter, upstaging even the famous Great Red Spot. Within months, however, the impact bruises were nearly gone, sheared into oblivion by Jupiter's violent winds.

      Each of the impact sites appeared dark in ordinary optical images—a surprise in view of predictions that frozen water and ammonia, which were thought to be predominant components of comets, would show as white plumes above the impact sites as material splashed back into the upper atmosphere and cooled. More surprisingly, very little water was detected spectroscopically. Ultraviolet spectra from the HST did show the presence of ammonia, sulfur, and hydrogen sulfide, the latter two substances having never before been seen on Jupiter. Although some plumes rose 3,000 km above Jupiter, no evidence was found for excavated material of the type thought to lie deep in Jupiter's atmosphere. Apparently the cometary chunks did not penetrate as deeply into the atmosphere as expected.

      Was Shoemaker-Levy 9 a typical comet, a "dirty snowball" composed of frozen ice and dust? Or was it more like an asteroid, made of rocky material? The comet tails seen in the early photos showed only dust, not gas. That detail and the impact results left scientists puzzling over the nature of the objects that had annihilated in Jupiter's clouds. (KENNETH BRECHER)

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Universalium. 2010.

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