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Article: The crash. (comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's collision with Jupiter; includes related article)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- August 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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For the first few hours, July 16, 1994, seemed a day like any other in the swirl of clouds and gas at the surface of planet Jupiter. Then, out of the planet's southern skies, a massive chunk of rock and ice came hurtling through the Jovian heavens at 134,000 mph. The most spectacular celestial bombardment ever witnessed had begun. When the fragment collided with the planet's thick gaseous cover, a massive plume of gas spewed from the impact site like a geyser, forming a brilliant fireball 1,000 miles high and 4,000 miles wide. Soon, astronomers on Earth saw the first clear pictures of the faraway cataclysm_and reached for the champagne.
The ill-fated projectile, ...