To Related PhotoLiterary scholar and inveterate comet hunter David Levy, who is part of the team that discovered Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 last year, discussed his exciting discovery at JPL's von Karman Auditorium on May 17. Levy used photographs, music, poetry, and humor to bring his subject to life.
As a young man, Levy became captivated by comets after reading Starlight Nights, the autobiography of famous comet hunter Leslie C. Peltier. To help explain "what makes a comet hunter tick," he shared the following excerpt from the book:
Time has not lessened the age-old allure of the comets. In some ways, their mystery has only deepened with the years. At each return, a comet brings with it the questions which were asked when it was here before, and as it rounds the Sun and backs away toward the long slow night of its aphelion, it leaves behind with us those questions still unanswered. To hunt a speck of moving haze may seem a strange pursuit. But, even if we fail, the search is still rewarding. For in no better way can we come face to face night after night with such a wealth of riches as old Croesus never dreamed of.
Inspired by these words, Levy began his search for comets at age 17 using a small backyard telescope. Nineteen years later, after moving from Canada to Tucson for better viewing conditions, he was finally rewarded with his first comet discovery in 1984. Since then, he has discovered 20 more comets--8 from his own backyard and 13 with Gene and Carolyn Shoemaker at the Mount Palomar Observatory.
His optimism and patience have really paid off this time. Levy recalled how poor the viewing conditions were that evening and how close they had come to calling off their observations. But when the sky cleared briefly, Levy talked the Shoemakers into using a few more sheets of some slightly damaged film. The next afternoon, Carolyn Shoemaker was methodically studying the pictures through her stereomicroscope when she saw the bizarre streak of light not far from Jupiter.
Their joint discovery of the luminous "string of pearls" comet caused a worldwide stir, even before its collision course with Jupiter was charted. Jim Scotti, an astronomer at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson, confirmed their findings with the powerful 36-in. Kitt Peak telescope. Scotti was astounded; he told Levy, "I've been trying to pick my jaw up off the floor! IÕm not taking my telescope off this comet for the rest of the observation period."
Although Levy is hesitant to predict spectacular fireworks when the comet collides with Jupiter, he is thrilled that it is capturing the public's imagination. "This is a marvelous opportunity to increase public awareness of what we [astronomers] do. For the first time in the history of the telescope, we are witnessing the impact of a comet on a planet. I still can't believe how fortunate we are to have this wonderful spacecraft [Galileo] available to us. It is so rare in science to have everything working together. This is truly an event of the first magnitude."
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