July 21, 2009

Comet may have hit Jupiter - Rare Photographs

Comet may have hit Jupiter - Rare Photographs

There are news reports today that a comet slammed into the planet Jupiter on Monday. Scientists have drawn this conclusion based on  images captured by NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility on Hawaii.

This is not the first time this has happened. In my book, DESTINATION JUPITER,

there is a a series of photographs showing a comet (named Shoemaker-Levy 9)  slamming into the surface of Jupiter in July, 1994. Fifteen years later, astronomers have photographed what may have been another comet crashing into the planet. Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system and has a strong gravitational pull. That’s one of the reasons Jupiter has captured so many comets and moons that circle around it.  Scientists are always excited when they are able to photograph such an impact. It tells them much about the composition of the planet.

 

Posted by: Seymour Simon

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