What happened to Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 before it collided with Jupiter?
Further observations revealed the comet (believed to be a single body at the time) had made a close approach to Jupiter in July 1992 and had been torn apart by tidal forces resulting from the planet’s powerful gravity. Shoemaker-Levy 9 left dark, ringed scars that were eventually erased by Jupiter’s winds.
How big was the meteor that hit Jupiter?
Based on the images and video provided observers, the object’s diameter is estimated at 20 meters (ft). Similar to what happened with SL-9, this object is believed to be the remnant of a larger comet or asteroid that was captured by Jupiter’s gravity that broke up shortly before the impact took place.
Did something just crash into Jupiter?
In 1994, the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9) impacted Jupiter, which had captured the comet shortly before (and broken apart by its gravity). The event became a media circus as it was the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of Solar System objects.
What would happen if a comet hit Jupiter?
They burn up in the Jovian atmosphere, and possibly explode. In any case, their material becomes permanently part of Jupiter. If an asteroid is made of very dense material, like iron, the destroyed asteroid will eventually sink into the inner layers of Jupiter.
How often do asteroids hit Jupiter?
For larger objects capable of leaving a visible scar on the planet’s cloud cover for weeks, he provides an impact frequency of one every 2–12 years. Even larger objects would impact Jupiter every 6–30 years.
What would happen if a comet hit Venus?
If it were to hit Venus, at its current velocity and mass, the impact could very well ignite the atmosphere especially considering that at day it is approximately 400°C and the impact would be around 500,000 megatons. So the surface of the planet would be vaporized.
How big was the meteor that killed dinosaurs?
Folks in the asteroid camp think the impactor was about 6.2 miles (10 km) in diameter. Asteroid or comet fragment, the space rock was big enough to spur one of Earth’s six known mass extinctions.
How often does Shoemaker-Levy 9 appear?
By far the most massive planet in the Solar System, Jupiter can capture objects relatively frequently, but the size of SL9 makes it a rarity: one post-impact study estimated that comets 0.3 km (0.19 mi) in diameter impact the planet once in approximately 500 years and those 1.6 km (0.99 mi) in diameter do so just once …
What happened in July 1994 Jupiter?
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.
When was Jupiter’s Red Eye discovered?
The Great Red Spot itself has been continuously observed since 1878 when it was described by American astronomer Carr Walter Pritchett. It may be the same storm as the so-called “Permanent Spot” that was discovered in 1665 by Italian astronomer Gian Domenico Cassini and last seen in 1713.
What if an asteroid hits a gas planet?
hitting any of them causes much of the mass of the asteroid to almost instantly convert into plasma, with explosive results. As far as the gas giant…it gains some weird storms and shock waves, but in the end it is just gas, so there’s no physical remains of the impact. It goes “boom”.