This is an image of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, broken into many pieces.
Click on image for full size
NASA/NSSDC and the Space Telescope Science Institute
The Discovery of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9
Astronomer Gene Shoemaker has a partnership with his wife, Carolyn, and another astronomer named David Levy. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was the ninth comet found by these partners.
The Shoemakers work in a separate observatory from that of David Levy. When the Shoemakers think they have found a candidate comet, they phone their partner so that he can also make an observation to be sure.
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was discovered on the morning of March xx, 1993, and seemed to be a large, very strange, "squished" object. Subsequent pictures showed it to be a string of small objects (a "string of pearls").
The Shoemakers traced the collected orbits backwards in time and realized that it had passed very close by Jupiter and could have been torn apart by Jupiter's gravity. Then they realized that on it's next pass by Jupiter it was going to plunge directly in.
You might also be interested in:
Mathematical theory suggests that comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was likely a short-period comet which was captured into orbit around Jupiter in 1929. This orbit ended with a collision of the comet with Jupiter
...moreThe force of gravity caused by an object gets weaker as you move farther away from that object. In this picture, the Earth is pulling on the Moon, and the Moon is pulling on the Earth. The Moon pulls more
...more Comet Hale-Bopp was one of the brightest comets of all time. Astronomers witnessed the comet spew out intermittent bursts of dust. The surface seemed to be an incredibly dynamic place, with 'vents' being
...moreSix spacecraft flew to Halley's comet in 1986. There were two spacecraft launched from Japan, named Suisei and Sakigake, and two from the Soviet Union, named Vega 1 & 2. One spacecraft, ICE, was from the
...moreAstronomers have noticed a group of comets which they call the Jupiter Family of Comets. This family of comets is to be found circling between Jupiter and the sun, as shown in this picture. The comets
...moreScientists have learned a great deal from the crash of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. Scientists traced the orbit of the comet backwards in time to guess its origin. The crash of a comet like Shoemaker-Levy 9
...moreAs the ices of the comet nucleus evaporate, they expand into a large cloud around the middle part of the comet. This cloud, called the coma, is the atmosphere of the comet. It can extend for millions of
...more