147K views · 1.8K reactions | What happened when comet Shoemaker-Levy...

#OTD 30 years ago, Hubble witnessed a pretty impactful event! For about a week, fragments of the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 slammed into the planet Jupiter. Each of the 21 fragments that impacted Jupiter left temporary black scars that revealed deeper layers of the planet’s atmosphere! Find out more about this historic event: https://go.nasa.gov/3SdTyX5 #NASA #Hubble #OnThisDay #Jupiter #video #science #astronomy #universe #history | NASA's Hubble Space Telescope

It’s a gravitational breakup! Fragments of shattered comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 pummeled into Jupiter in 1994, leaving huge black impact sites. 30 years later, rediscover the significance of this event and the crucial role of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in capturing its dramatic impact. | NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

When Shoemaker–Levy 9 crossed Jupiter’s Roche limit, its nucleus was torn into 21 fragments—the “string of pearls.” After looping the Sun, those pieces slammed into Jupiter in July 1994 with a force 600× Earth’s entire nuclear arsenal. Events like this remind us how small—and vulnerable—we really are. | The Randall Carlson

In 1994, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter, becoming the first collision of celestial bodies in our solar system observed by astronomers. The comet, previously split by the giant's gravity, caused the impact of its largest fragment with a power of 6 million megatons in TNT equivalent, exceeding the nuclear potential of the Earth by 750 times. After the collision, dark spots appeared in Jupiter's atmosphere, one of which had a diameter comparable to the Earth. | Jock Williams Meteorolo