About this video

In July of 1994, the fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter. Exactly 15 years later, in July of 2009, there was another impact. Amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley captured the first image of the 2009 impact at his home observatory in Australia. Observatories such as the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, Gemini North, Keck, and the Hubble Space Telescope quickly followed up on the discovery, taking astronomers back to those SL9 impact days in 1994.

 

1999 (The Jupiter Impact of 2009)

The Photomixers

 

Parody lyrics by Kelly Fast

(a parody of Prince's "1999")

  • At the summit when I wrote this, forgive me but my head is sore.
  • I feel I'm in a time warp, déjà vu, been here before.
  • The irritated atmosphere is sporting a familiar bruise.
  • As with Shoemaker-Levy 9 we know there is no time to lose.
  • Ju-pi-ter two thousand zero niner, never thought we'd see any more.
  • But tonight there was an impact as in 1994!
  • Wesley caught post-impact, observatories rushed to see.
  • IRTF, Gemini, Keck II and HST.
  • Morphology and altitude, certainly an impact site.
  • Spectroscopy and imaging, we'll rock that planet tonight!
  • Ju-pi-ter two thousand zero niner, never thought we'd see any more.
  • But tonight there was an impact as in 1994!
  • Dynamics, photochemistry, there is so much to be learned.
  • Twice in a lifetime, leave no asteroid or comet unturned.
  • SL9 was crazy, makes this loner seem so serene.
  • Still this is something that we wish Gene could have seen.
  • Ju-pi-ter two thousand zero niner, never thought we'd see any more.
  • But tonight there was an impact as in 1994!