Twenty three years ago, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was discovered by Carolyn S. and
Eugene M. Shoemaker and David H. Levy, hence the name. That breezy March night as they were taking pictures of the sky to look for comets, they noticed something strange about some of the comets they found. Because it was the nineth comet they found, they named it Shoemaker-Levy 9, or SL9. As they looked closer, they realized that the comet was near Jupiter. Doing some research on SL9, they discovered it has been orbiting the sun for billions of years. On July 7,1992, the coment made contact with Jupiter’s tides and tore it apart. The astronomers were astonished with the calculations into the comet’s future to find out that it will physically strike Jupiter in 1994. “The
chunks …show more content…
Whatever damage Jupiter sustained, one thing is for sure: it's got no dinosaurs left.” Neil deGrasse Tyson
The impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter was important to scientists for two noteworthy reasons. First, the force of the impact drove material from deep within
Jupiter
to its visible surface, astronomers an unknown look at the planet's chemistry. Second, the impact was a display of Jupiter's role in capturing comets that might otherwise reach the inner solar system.
Since the comet was found, scientists have learned alot of stuff about comets, like scientists traced the orbit of the comet backwards in time to guess its origin.
Also, the crash of a comet like SL-9 might have happened more than once. In addition, a search of moons showed that strings of broken comets had hit other solar system objects before. Plus signs of the explosions of the comet remained in Jupiter's atmosphere for 2 years. And after all this time, scientists still debate whether it is
Eugene M. Shoemaker and David H. Levy, hence the name. That breezy March night as they were taking pictures of the sky to look for comets, they noticed something strange about some of the comets they found. Because it was the nineth comet they found, they named it Shoemaker-Levy 9, or SL9. As they looked closer, they realized that the comet was near Jupiter. Doing some research on SL9, they discovered it has been orbiting the sun for billions of years. On July 7,1992, the coment made contact with Jupiter’s tides and tore it apart. The astronomers were astonished with the calculations into the comet’s future to find out that it will physically strike Jupiter in 1994. “The
chunks …show more content…
Whatever damage Jupiter sustained, one thing is for sure: it's got no dinosaurs left.” Neil deGrasse Tyson
The impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter was important to scientists for two noteworthy reasons. First, the force of the impact drove material from deep within
Jupiter
to its visible surface, astronomers an unknown look at the planet's chemistry. Second, the impact was a display of Jupiter's role in capturing comets that might otherwise reach the inner solar system.
Since the comet was found, scientists have learned alot of stuff about comets, like scientists traced the orbit of the comet backwards in time to guess its origin.
Also, the crash of a comet like SL-9 might have happened more than once. In addition, a search of moons showed that strings of broken comets had hit other solar system objects before. Plus signs of the explosions of the comet remained in Jupiter's atmosphere for 2 years. And after all this time, scientists still debate whether it is