| Proper Name | Shoemaker-Levy 9 | | Designation | D/1993 F2 | | Orbital inclination to the Ecliptic | 95° | | Orbital Period | Not applicable | | Notes | The history of this comet is unclear, but at some point - probably in about the year 1970 - it was captured by Jupiter's immense gravitational field and pulled into a decaying orbit by that planet. In 1992 it came so close to Jupiter that it was broken apart into a string of fragments, and in the following year the comet was completely destroyed when those fragments smashed into the giant planet. |
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