Comet Shoemaker-Levy Collision with Jupiter

Twenty years ago, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9) impacted Jupiter. I created this website in June 1994 on a voluntary basis, and it was my first public website. I was immensely interested in this unique comet since its discovery in 1993 - a comet that was not only captured into Jupiter orbit, but had broken up into several pieces which were about to hit Jupiter in July 1994. There were a lot of speculation about how the impacts would appear on Jupiter, and this website documents each impact as they occurred. Also note: back in 1994, websites were relatively unknown and somewhat of a novelty. This website became the first big Web event, and was key in raising the awareness of websites to the mainstream public, which we now take for granted today.

Here's a good summary of the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 events published the "JPL Universe" on January 13, 1995.

JPL Universe article

This website will remain up as an archive and I hope you enjoy the images.

Ron Baalke

From July 16 through July 22, 1994, pieces of an object designated as Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter. This is the first collision of two solar system bodies ever to be observed, and the effects of the comet impacts on Jupiter's atmosphere have been simply spectacular and beyond expectations. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 consisted of at least 21 discernable fragments with diameters estimated at up to 2 kilometers.

News (Last Updated March 14, 2000)

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The Comet Shoemaker-Levy Home Page (JPL) has been rated in the top 5 percent of all World Wide Web sites in an external review by Point Communications.

Images, Images, Images (1444 Images, 64 Observatories)

Comet Shoemaker-Levy Impact Times

TV Coverage

Spacecraft Observations of the Impacts

Ground Based Observations

Links to Other Comet Shoemaker-Levy Home Pages



