This composite image shows the impending collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter. This event, occurring in the summer of 1994, was the first time in recorded history that a comet was observed colliding with a planet.
On July 7, 1992, an unknown comet passed very close to Jupiter. Although no collision occurred, the planetΓÇÖs intense gravity caused the cometΓÇÖs icy core to fragment. Nearly a year later the comet in question was discovered by the trio Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker and David Levy. Astronomers soon realized Shoemaker-Levy 9 would actually hit Jupiter the following year. In the next months, Shoemaker-Levy 9 was carefully monitored, and on July 16, 1994, it began a six-day
