Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 & Ganymede

In July 1994, several fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacted into Jupiter. Telescopes from around the world were focused on Jupiter for this very exciting event. Below are images of the Comet Shoemaker-Levy impacts that have Ganymede present in them.

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Observer: Voyager Spacecraft
Date: 1979

Impact Crater Chains on Ganymede
Two of three anomalous crater chains on Ganymede are shown here. The chain on the left is 60 km long, and is believed to have formed when a comet split by Jupiter into 6 fragments hit Ganymede (not unlike Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9). The chain on the right is 160 km long and also formed when a split comet hit Ganymede. The sizes of these craters and the morphologies of these crater chains are being studied to determine the properties of cometary nuclei, and the nature of the comet splitting process.

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Observers: Beth Clark, William Cochran, Yongha Kim
Location: McDonald Observatory, University of Texas
Date: July 18, 1994 00:09 UT

The very bright object to the west of Jupiter (upper right portion of the image) is the satellite Ganymede.

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Observer: Hien Nguyen
Location: South Pole, Antarctica
Date: July 18, 1994 19:21 UT

Ganymede is visible on the upper left portion of Jupiter as Fragment H of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is impacting into Jupiter.

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Observers: NOVAE amateur astronomers
Location: Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur (OCA), Nice, France
Date: July 18, 1994 19:29 UT

Ganymede is near the limb of Jupiter near the upper left.

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Observers: Tom Herbst, Doug Hamilton, Hermann Boehnhardt, Jose Luis Moreno, et al.
Location: Calar Alto Observatory, Canary Islands, Spain
Date: July 18, 1994 19:35 UT

Ganymede is visible in the upper left in all of the frames as Fragment H of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is impacting into Jupiter.

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Observers: Hans Rickman, Mats Lindgren, Per Magnusson, Johan Lagerros, Goran Scharmer
Location: La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain
Date: July 18, 1994 20:00- 00:00 UT

Ganymede is moving across the Northern polar cap of Jupiter in these images.

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Observers: Hans Rickman, Mats Lindgren, Per Magnusson, Johan Lagerros, Goran Scharmer
Location: La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain
Date: July 18, 1994 20:27 UT

Ganymdede is visible near the limb of Jupiter in the upper left.

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Observers: Tom Herbst, Doug Hamilton, Hermann Boehnhardt, Jose Luis Moreno
Location: Calar Alto Observatory, Canary Islands, Spain
Date: July 18, 1994 UT

The star-like object next to Jupiter is Ganymede.

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Observers: Tom Herbst, Doug Hamilton, Hermann Boehnhardt, Jose Luis Moreno
Location: Calar Alto Observatory, Canary Islands, Spain
Date: July 18, 1994 UT

The bright object just off Jupiter's disk in the upper right is Ganymede.

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Observers: Tom Herbst, Doug Hamilton
Location: Calar Alto Observatory, Canary Islands, Spain
Date: February 16-19, 1995

Ganymede is visible moving across Jupiter in the two rightmost images.

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