The impact site of one of comet SL9's fragments on Jupiter's cloud-tops.
In 1993, a strange string of comet pieces was discovered near the planet
Jupiter. So unusual a sight, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9) quickly became the
object of much scientific curiosity. Studies showed that the Sun would soon
perturb the orbit of SL9 so that it would actually strike Jupiter in July 1994.
The studies were right. The above picture shows the impact site of SL9's
fragment G on Jupiter's cloud-tops. The size of the dark outer ring is roughly
the size of the Earth. Since Jupiter is mostly gas, the comet melted and
evaporated before plunging too far into Jupiter's atmosphere.
