David H. Levy and Shoemaker-Levy 9

By Drew Hillier

Prominent Contribution

• David H. Levy co-discovered the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 that orbited Jupiter on the night of March 24th, 1993.

• This comet had orbited Jupiter for a long time- it was estimated to have been there for 30 years at the time of its discovery.

• The comet had been ripped into pieces because of a close encounter with Jupiter.

• The fragments of the comet collided with Jupiter’s southern hemisphere between July 16th and 24th, 1994. They were travelling at approximately 60 kilometers per second.

Importance of the discovery

• This was the first observation of a collision of extraterrestrial objects in the solar system.

• It also helped prove that Jupiter is important in that it protects Earth and the other inner planets from most collisions with asteroids and comets.

Other DiscoveriesHe discovered the following asteroids: (taken from Wikipedia)

• 5261 Eureka • 5852 Nanette• 6398 Timhunter• 6401 Roentgen[

• 6485 Wendeesther• 6670 Wallach• 6715 Sheldonmarks• 6914 Becquerel• 7344 Summerfield• 8021 Walter

• 8358 Rickblackey• 9070 Ensab• 9083 Ramboehm• 10332 Defi• 10346 Triathlon• 11548 Jerrylewis• 11589 Virgilsmith• 11911 Angel• 111941 Archinal• 13057 Jorgensen• 13111 Papacosmas• 13123 Tyson• 13615 Manulis

Other Discoveries (Pt. 2)• 11429 Coyne• 15276 Diebel• 15294 Underwood• 15321 Donnadean• 15779 Scottroberts• 16514 Stevelia• 16669 Rionuevo• 17493 Wildcat• 18368 Flandrau• 18434 Mikesandras• 19980 Barrysimon

• 22312 Kelly• 22338 Janemojo• 24778 Nemsu• 24779 Presque Isle• 27776 Cortland• 27810 Daveturner• 30840 JackAlice• 117032 DavidLane• 144907 Whitehorne• 157421 Carolpercy

Bibliography

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Levy_%28astronomer%29

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Shoemaker%E2%80%93Levy_9

• All images are from Wikimedia Commons.