All Questions
4 questions
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What calculations show that Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 orbited Jupiter for several decades before its spectacular impact? (Chodas, Sekanina & Yeomans)
This answer to A moon in eccentric orbit dipping below Roche limit includes the following about Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9
Here is a nice figure of its last passes:
I looked up "fragment A" in ...
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5
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Why do Jupiter impact events look dark brown?
When a large asteroid impacts a rocky planet, the impact area becomes molten, looking red. However, when an asteroid or other large object impacts a gas giant, like Jupiter, the impact area turns dark ...
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Why doesn't Jupiter increase the chances of an asteroid to strike the Earth?
I often hear the hypothesis that Jupiter decreases the chances of an asteroid strike on the Earth, but my question is, why does it only decrease the chances ?
While Jupiter can deflect some ...
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Why did the Comet Shoemaker-Levy-9 fragments cause such large explosions on Jupiter?
In July 1994, the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (D/1993 F2) tidally fragmented and these fragments collided into Jupiter, as per the image below.
Image source
The question is, what mechanisms resulted in ...
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