Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is so-named because it was the ninth
short-period comet[?] discovered by
Carolyn and
Eugene Shoemaker and
David Levy[?]. It was first detected in a photograph taken on the night of
March 24,
1993 with the 0.4-meter
Schmidt telescope[?] at the
Mount Palomar[?] observatory in
California, and subsequently observed by many other astronomers. The comet was extremely unusual because it was in fragments, evidently due to a close encounter with the planet
Jupiter in July
1992.
During the period July 16-July 22, 1994, over twenty fragments of the comet collided with Jupiter's southern hemisphere, providing the first direct observation of the collision of two solar system objects. The event was closely observed and recorded by astronomers worldwide, because of its tremendous scientific importance.