HST Image of Impacts D and G Target Name:   Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, Jupiter Spacecraft:   Hubble Space Telescope Produced by:   Hubble Space Telescope Comet Team Copyright:  Public domain

• Shoemaker-Levy 9 Impact

This image of Jupiter shows 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". The "G" impact has concentric rings around it, with a central dark spot 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) in diameter. This dark spot is surrounded by a thin dark ring 7,500 kilometers (4,661 miles) in diameter. The dark thick outermost ring's inner edge has a diameter of 12,000 kilometers (7,460 miles) - about the size of the Earth.