July 8, 2025
On this date in 1992, comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 made its closest approach to Jupiter – 74,364 mi (119,677 km) from the surface. The comet wasn’t discovered until 1993, but calculations show that as it passed by in July of 1992, Jupiter’s tidal forces had pulled the comet apart. The fragments of Shoemaker-Levy 9 – 21 pieces in total – collided with Jupiter between July 16 and 22, 1994 creating large dark spots in the planet’s atmosphere.
The two images above show the impact sites on the southern hemisphere of Jupiter. They are the dark brown spots that seem to form a line under the great red spot. The image on the left is a visible light Hubble image of the impact spots. The image on the right is a view of the impact spots in ultraviolet light, also taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. The dark circle appearing in the northern hemisphere of the ultraviolet image is a transit shadow of Io, one of the four Galilean Moons.
Images courtesy of NASA.
