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Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Bringing the Visible Universe into Focus with Robo-AO
Published on: February 12, 2013
Collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter observed by the NASA infrared telescope facility
1Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 91109.
Abstract:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Infrared Telescope Facility was used to investigate the collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter from 12 July to 7 August 1994. Strong thermal infrared emission lasting several minutes was observed after the impacts of fragments C, G, and R. All impacts warmed the stratosphere and some the troposphere up to several degrees. The abundance of stratospheric ammonia increased by more than 50 times. Impact-related particles extended up to a level where the atmospheric pressure measured several millibars. The north polar near-infrared aurora brightened by nearly a factor of 5 a week after the impacts.
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