To The Brilliant Death of Comet SL9
The impact of Fragment W on Jupiter is shown in this series of Galileo images taken at 2.3-s intervals. No contact is visible in the first image. In the next three images, a point of light appears, brightens, and--7 seconds after the first image was taken--fades. Scientists are not yet sure whether the point of light is the fragment hitting Jupiter's atmosphere or the subsequent explosion and fireball. (P44542)