Jupiter Swallows Comet Shoemaker Levy 9
Explanation:
What happens when a
comet encounters a planet?
If the planet has a rocky surface, a
huge impact feature will form.
A giant planet like
Jupiter, however, is mostly
gas.
When
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 struck Jupiter in 1994,
each piece was
swallowed
into the vast
Jovian atmosphere.
Pictured above is a time-lapse sequence of the result of
two fragments striking
Jupiter. As the comet plunged in,
it created large dark marks that gradually faded.
The high temperature of gas under
Jupiter's cloud tops
surely caused the comet fragment to melt
before it plunged very far.
Because Jupiter is much more massive than any comet,
the orbit of Jupiter around the
Sun did not change noticeably.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
