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Shoemaker-Levy 9

/ ˈʃuːˌmeɪkə liːvaɪ /

noun

  1. a comet that was captured into an orbit around Jupiter and later broke up, the fragments colliding with Jupiter in July 1995
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of Shoemaker-Levy 91

C20: after Carolyn Shoemaker (born 1929), Eugene Shoemaker (1928–97), and David Levy (born 1948), US astronomers, who discovered the orbiting fragments
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Example Sentences

She will study Jupiter’s thin ring, which may still be rippling in the wake of the 1994 impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.

The best-known impact at Jupiter was that of the 19 fragments of a comet called Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1994.

Even as the pieces of Shoemaker-Levy 9 reshaped the astronomy community, they also left their mark on Jupiter itself, leaving in its clouds a dark splotch larger than Earth that was visible for months.

Shoemaker-Levy 9 is still the most dramatic impact scientists have seen at Jupiter, and one of very few that left observable traces within a few hours of the collision.

Conveniently a natural test of the theory arose when the Shoemakers and Levy discovered Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which they soon realized was headed for Jupiter.

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