NOTE: Click on the images to view them at their highest
resolution. This is a six image sequence showing the collision
of fragment H of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter. The frames
were taken over a three hour period on the 18th of July, 1994,
using the MAGIC infrared camera on the 3.5 meter telescope on
Calar Alto. The star-like object next to Jupiter is the largest
Galilean moon, Ganymede. The polar caps and pre-existing impact
sites appear bright at the wavelength of observation, 2.3
microns, which was selected to maximize contrast between the
impacts and the jovian cloud deck. The following paragraphs give
further information on each image. Jupiter and Ganymede
approximately four minutes prior to the impact of fragment H.
The bright feature near the southern polar cap is the impact
site of the D and G fragments, which struck the planet 32 and 12
hours earlier, respectively. Note the crescent shaped ejecta
blanket to the southwest (lower right) of the D/G site. The
second and brighter of two impact prec