PHOTO RELEASE NO STScI-PRC94-33            FOR RELEASE: July 21, 1994      



           COLOR HUBBLE IMAGE OF LARGE COMET IMPACT ON JUPITER

This image of the giant planet Jupiter, by NASA's Hubble Space
Telescope, reveals the impact sites of  fragments "D" and "G" from
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.  

The large feature was created by the impact of fragment "G" on July
18, 1994 at 3:28 a.m. EDT.  It entered Jupiter's atmosphere from the
south at a 45-degree angle, and the resulting ejecta appears to have
been thrown back along that direction.  The smaller feature to the left
of  the fragment "G" impact site was created on July 17, 1994, at 7:45
a.m. EDT by the impact of fragment "D".

This image was taken 1 hour and 45 minutes after fragment "G"
impacted the planet.  The "G" impact has concentric rings around it,
with a central dark spot 1,550 miles (2,500 km) in diameter.  This
dark spot is surrounded by a thin dark ring 4,660 miles (7,500 km) in
diameter.  The dark thick outermost ring's inner edge has a diameter
of 7,460 miles (12,000 km) -- about the size of the Earth.  

The picture is a combination of separate images taken thorugh several
color filters to create this "true color" rendition of Jupiter's multi-
colored clouds.  The impact sites are located  in Jupiter's southern
hemisphere at a latitude of 44 degrees.

Credit:  H. Hammel, MIT
         and NASA