Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9

the comet that hit Jupiter in July 1994 · replayed

5.37 AU from Earth

Jupiter's gravity tore this comet into about 21 pieces in July 1992. Two years later, from 16 to 22 July 1994, they hit Jupiter one after another at 60 km/s: the first collision between two Solar System bodies ever watched.

• a replay of July 1994, sped up
• the biggest pieces hit with the energy of tens of thousands of megatons of TNT
• plumes rose 3,000 km; the dark scars were about the size of Earth

Numbers that change with time are from 8 November 2026.

kind

comet or meteor shower · explosion or collision

distance

5.32 AU from the Sun

orbits

Jupiter