Shoemaker Levy 9: Jupiter's Apocalyptic Comet

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[@geographicstravel]

Check out Squarespace: squarespace.com/GEOGRAPHICS for 10% off on your first purchase.

[@ainsleychance3052]

How bout one on Diego Columbus.. did he really blackmail a king?

[@StfuFFS]

17:00 "It was so big [that] God, Himself, couldn't mess with it" Oh Simon. That's not how That works. He is within and without.

[@victoriaeads6126]

Please, PLEASE ask the writers to consistently use BCE/CE!

[@meesalikeu]

@@victoriaeads6126 o stop with the wokey woke BC/AD is traditional canon

[@steveshoemaker6347]

Thank you....Shoemaker🇺🇸

[@groofay]

Imagine being so respected by your colleagues that they send your ashes into space with that quote. That got me tearing up.

[@serephita]

I'm definitely not crying over that.

[@kevinsteele2773]

No tears at all after that

[@the_once-and-future_king.]

I'm not crying, you're crying.

[@williamchamberlain2263]

I'm not crying I've got space dust in my eyes.

[@Hardbass2021]

I came here to learn about Shoemaker-Levy 9, not to feel.

[@theHogSpawnBerserker]

I teared up hearing about Eugene and Caroline and his final resting place. Honestly pretty awesome to be buried amongst the stars.

[@CinHotlanta]

I thought wouldn't it be great for the first mission to return to the moon to find the impact crater and place Caroline's ashes with her husband's and leave them a telescope pointed out to the sky, together keeping a vigil on NEOs forever :D

[@aran5033]

@@CinHotlanta it must be raining today...

[@resileaf9501]

@@aran5033 So it is.

[@katerinadlouha2196]

check out Nightwish - Shoemaker, its a tribute song to Eugene Shoemaker

[@jacquelynsmith2351]

I'm not crying. It's space dust...

[@MrTexasDan]

I set up my 8" telescope in the back yard on that first night. The impacts were on the far side, but I watched as the rotation of Jupiter brought the impact scars into view. Sciencegasm indeed. You know, when you get older you start maintaining a mental list of the cool things you have done or seen in this life. For me, seeing SL-9 slamming into Jupiter real time is pretty high on that list.

[@Life_42]

You are so lucky!!!

[@rubiconnn]

Wow, I wish I was old enough to watch it. I journeyed to Idaho to see the 2017 Solar Eclipse and that was life changing for me. Recently I found an 8" Meade LX200 for sale for dirt cheap and I picked it up but I'm still learning how to use it.

[@Svensk7119]

I saw that eclipse. I remember Shoemaker-Levy 9. I regret not seeing Halley's Comet. Everyone was saying, "Y'gotta see it, gotta see it, gotta seeit, gotta seeit!" So of course, I said, "No!" How human is that?

[@MrTexasDan]

@@rubiconnn Good for you! We went to Ste. Genevieve, MO for that eclipse, right in the center of path, at point of longest totality. What a great experience! The next one is coming through central TX about 10 miles from my house in April 2024. That Meade LX200 is decent. Suggest investing in some nice 2" eyepieces (pre-owned Naglers are a great option), find a nice dark place with open horizons on a moonless night. Enjoy!

[@MrTexasDan]

@@Svensk7119 Honestly, Halley's was kind of a dud. Instead, a few years later, we got 2 amazing comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp, then Neowise in 2020. There will be more.

[@TheLoneTerran]

I've been lucky enough to see Hale-Bop and this comet. Also, very glad Jupiter is out there, hoovering up lots of debris that might kill us instead.

[@Dragrath1]

Sadly Jupiter also flings stuff at us too which based on simulations roughly cancels out any net reduction in impact events.

[@nicholashylton6857]

I was really bummed out when that cult of web page designers killed themselves - thinking that there was a spaceship in the comet's tail. I was like, "WTF? Seriously??"

[@summeronio9751]

Thanks Jupiter, for taking the hit on that one.

[@Life_42]

Thank you Jupiter!

[@Zaluskowsky]

Yes! Thanks Jupiter ❤️

[@ziegfeld4131]

We only exist bc Jupiter takes so many hits for us

[@Cludensyo]

Jupiter the real one

[@satanicmicrochipv5656]

There's a Uranus joke in there somewhere.

[@samanthar1214]

"Now you've been tucked in For eternal earthrise and wonder A sailor through aeons Story unheard, howling at the earth Yours is the whole graveyard of heavens A ship that sailed home" Shoemaker-Nightwish

[@Fuchswinter]

Perhaps one of the most beautiful songs about the topic

[@Julia-uh4li]

Dang, that gave me goosebumps. Loved it. Thank you 🌟🌟🌟💙

[@TheNewOrder121]

Bunkem

[@andraschbrommow5802]

The best part of this song though, is the Shakespeare-line:^^ "And when he shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars. And he will make the heavens so fine, that everyone will be in love with night. And pay no worship to the garish sun"

[@kirke420]

My cousin was on that Hubble team (data processor) during the impact. You can see his face in the doorway of the famous (non-cropped version of the) picture of the Hubble team's reaction.

[@judethaddeus9856]

Thanks for sharing that cool story!!! It’s AMAZING how social media can introduce you to almost everyone

[@Julia-uh4li]

Neat!!

[@sasharae99]

Oh that's too cool! 😲

[@kreiner1]

Very cool 😎

[@balinchainly420]

Moo

[@_Zer0Gr4vity_]

Man, Eugene Shoemaker has the most badass resting place in the entire human existence.

[@memoochoaprime]

GG

[@emmettgeraghty3044]

I love these “Astrographics” segments. They are some of my favorites from Simon.

[@DesiGalCrochet]

That's a great name! He should make a spin-off channel and just do space stuff! I'm going to find a way to suggest this to him and I will credit you with the original idea!

[@toluwanimirobinson]

Here comes another channel.

[@jj201183]

Astrographics..... This is an amazing idea for a new channel!!!!

[@emmettgeraghty3044]

I genuinely hope so. I’m such a space nerd, I love these explorations and stories from our species history exploring the final frontier.

[@doclewis8927]

Rest in peace, Mr. and Mrs. Shoemaker. Thank you for all of your hard & valuable work to save the whole planet!

[@benmartin6181]

Your aware that the Shoemakers work was to identify potential near Earth passes by comets?... Had one taken a collision course we could of done nothing about it.

[@calci2679]

@@benmartin6181did you watch the video at all?!

[@tommythetoe]

He was a candidate to go to the moon. Could not pass physical. He did train the astronauts I believe. At least he finally made it.

[@Aaron-from-BroTrio]

I actually met David Levy a few times the year the comet hit! He came to visit our elementary school's astronomy club, and we took a field trip to his house once. I remember him being a pretty cool guy, and he had an awesome telescope in his back yard! I even got to see part of the comet hit using the huge telescope at the Tucson observatory for my birthday that year! It wasn't as good as the pictures, but you could clearly see it happening.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:25 - Chapter 1 - A line in space 4:45 - Chapter 2 - Destination, Jupiter 8:40 - Mid roll ads 10:15 - Chapter 3 - Days of impact 13:35 - Chapter 4 - Sky falls 17:50 - Chapter 5 - Doomsday defense - Chapter 6 -

[@carschmn]

Talk about a great second act for Carolyn Shoemaker: comet hunter.

[@mx6fe3]

Really appreciate Simon thinking of us Americuns and using non metric units to describe the size of things. Describing something as "bigger than long Island" really paints a picture

[@Julia-uh4li]

Yes, but with that said I still had to Google the distance of impact being felt from the Tunguska impact since Simon said it in kilometers. Simons audience is primarily American for all his channels. So we got lucky!!

[@owenshebbeare2999]

So...cave-man units!

[@scipio109]

You americans have to get used to the metric system once and for all they are the ones that almost the entire world including the scientific comunity uses so deal with it 😈

[@crhu319]

You could just learn measurement. Really.

[@xyz7572]

@@Julia-uh4li why would Simon’s audience be mainly American? Where did you get that information from?

[@jayjaynella4539]

My friend and I saw the Shoemakers when they came to Canberra Australien after the comet strike, in 1996 I think. We got to meet them and chat with them afterwards. A very sad day when Eugene was taken from us, out in the middle of nowhere. The biography of them by David Levy is tops.

[@JayJay-ex6yo]

check out the tribute song "Shoemaker" the Finnish band Nightwish made for Eugene Shoemaker

[@Svensk7119]

What irony it would be if Dimorphos were knocked out of orbit, and toward Earth.

[@rarebird_82]

I remember I was 11 and I was soooo excited my mother let me stay up late to watch the SL9 impact coverage LIVE on the news. Galileo was a wonderful era, as was the 90s 🥰

[@rarebird_82]

PS I was 14>15 when I saw Hale Bopp in 1997, the 90 was the best decade of my life. All downhill after 2010 sadly, now hurtling towards 40 faster than SL9 on its final descent 😭🪐☄️

[@nightwalkerscrypt]

My grandmother may she RIP knew about my deep love for astronomy and as I was 17 and had to be at school as the impact was televised she recorded the event for me on vhs. That vhs has sense been lost in one of my many moves but I will be forever grateful to her.

[@just_kos99]

I could see my grandma doing this, too. Aren't grandmothers great?

[@bethtanner4481]

They came to the Carnegie Institute in DC that summer and showed their "home movies" (essentially) - they were so excited and so down to earth (ha ha) at the same time.

[@patriciaposthumus6684]

I love this type of biographics on different space stuff. Do more please.

[@bradlevantis913]

I had no idea Eugene and Caroline were in the car together when the fatal crash happened in Australia. Eugene was well known for studying craters made by nuclear bomb testing and confirming that baranger crater in AZ was an impact crater. Carolyn was a giant in NEO detection

[@Nefville]

I remember when this happened and at the time the prevailing theories were that the impacts wouldn't affect Jupiter all that much.... yeah we learned after seeing impact marks larger than the Earth itself that we were VERY wrong. Amazing to see the power of potential and kinetic energy in such a spectacular way.

[@collinclark6086]

Loving these space videos Simon. Keep up the good work.

[@joemel2]

this was important because at the time there were a lot of people who thought nothing would happen and Jupiter wouldn't even notice the impacts. When they were on the scale they were people suddenly took the idea of an asteroid wiping out the dinosaurs seriously and considered it happening again!

[@dwashbur]

I had (still have) a Celestron 8" scope, and my daughters and I watched the holes in Jupiter go around. I found a downloadable PC program that tracked which was which. It was some of the best time I had with my daughters and my scope.

[@emoryogglethorp8180]

I remember Shoemaker Levy 9, my goodness 1994 really? Thanks for making me feel really old Simon LOL

[@kyleleeson4498]

I remember being able to go to the local community college and use their Observatory during this. Thank you for bringing back some fond memories.

[@mho...]

Was 10yo when SL9 Impacted, was such a huge event back then! fascinating & scary, one of the things that got me hooked on space 👾

[@Magneticlaw]

And a special "thank you" to Jupiter, the vacuum cleaner of the solar system.

[@nicholashylton6857]

I will _never_ forget that awesome week. Day after day, new impact "scars" appearing in Jupiter's clouds I got to see through my little refractor & the 60 cm(?) reflecting telescope at York University in Toronto.

[@subhanusaxena7199]

Great video, do listen to Nightwish's tribute to Eugene Shoemaker, the song is called Shoemaker

[@mangalover0149]

I'm so glad people are mentioning this. Especially listen to the live version. It's a fantastic song.

[@bujin1977]

I only discovered Nightwish a month or so ago. It's great to see that my new favourite band are a bunch of science geeks like me! 😁

[@resileaf9501]

Incredible to think that we caught this once-in-a-timeline event at the exact right time in history to watch it happen in real time and gain so much vital information from it.

[@multiyapples]

Rest In Peace to the Shoemakers.

[@vice.nor.virtue]

Wow, this was a particularly great time 20 minutes with Simon. I've seen quite a few of these now and SL9 is really top 5 stuff.

[@williamchamberlain2263]

Shoemaker Levy IX came from a long line of Shoemaker Levys, of the Newport Levys. His father, Shoemaker Levy VIII, had finally brought the family back to prominence by slamming into Venus.

[@Iskelderon]

I still occasionally think back to those photos and how it highlighted the importance of investing resources in newer telescope generations and object tracking systems and WHY.

[@jamo491]

I remember Patrick Moore stating that the comet impact on Jupiter was like trying to destroy a freight train with a baked bean.

[@just_kos99]

Speaking of Patrick Moore.... in a first season new Doctor Who episode, the Doctor asks Rose, his companion, "WHO knows more about aliens than I do?" She pauses a minute and says, "Sir Patrick Moore?" He pauses, too, then says, "Okay, besides him!" (Sorry, couldn't resist!)

[@cynthiasimpson931]

I remember when this happened. I'm a long-time amateur astronomer, and I remember that Astronomy Magazine had an impressive spread of pictures about it.

[@dirtynumb]

Ah your space videos always make me tear up

[@riverphoenix8847]

Thanks for your great content. Ill keep watching all your channels as I have been for years.

[@LynHannan]

I was in my mid 20's and an amateur astronomer member of the Ballaarat Astronomical Society (in Victoria, Australia). It was great mid-winter excitement amongst 4 buildings housing their own telescope (one was computer-aided) along with about 10 member's personal telescopes (some home-made from lessons at the Society!) set up around the grounds! Looking through the eyepieces of each telescope was eye-opening to say the least - with a range of field depth and magnifications (that I don't understand about in the slightest) offering various perspectives! They generally only opened for Friday night meetings and observations, but they were open Sat and Sun nights as well to cope with the streams of general public, along with a reporting crew. I helped out over the weekend as tour guide around the grounds, installing red cellophane coverings on people's torches (flashlights) so they wouldn't disturb people's night vision, and selling and instructing the use of planispheres and other merch. I believe this event was nicely profitable for the Society! I moved away about 4 years later, and was distracted by life: married, family, etc. I'm looking forward to becoming an empty-nester so I can re-immerse myself again. Thanks for the nostalgia trip!

[@michaelfondaw6752]

The light over your shoulder reminds me of the movie 2010, when the monolith changed Jupiter into a second sun 😁

[@padawanmage71]

If we ever try and tackle a comet, it'll be more like 'Deep Impact' than the laughable 'Armageddon'.

[@stephendoherty8291]

Comet : here I come to deliver death Jupiter : Bring it on, puny rocks, I can take it.

[@hoefty232]

This video is literally my favorite that I've seen from Simon. Not only is the topic of major interest to me, but his delivery throughout is absolutely perfect and both keeps your interest and peaks your sense of intrigue. That said, Shoemaker Levy 9 was much more than I ever realized, as I was only 5 when the impact happened.

[@davidstump]

Does thinking about space giving anyone else existential dread?? Just me??? 😂

[@Delekhan]

Super cool! I remember this event well. Great video Simon and team! Thanks...

[@skupachk]

I witnessed the 5th (if I recall correctly) impact from the national obsevatory in the Botanical Gardens in Wellington, NZ while I was a uni student. It took approximately 40 minutes from impact before you could see the spreading spot on the planet's surface. Something I'm sure I will never witness again.

[@Osindileyo1]

It’s really crazy just how much that one comet made…. Our entire planetary defence initiative from that one comet….

[@mathewkelly9968]

So glad I was born in 77 and got to see Haley's Comet , Hale Bopp and being around for this .

[@douglashaus1820]

Loving these outer space Geographics Simon (& writers/editors)! Keep it up!

[@AceSpadeThePikachu]

I was only 4 years old when Shoemaker Levy 9 hit Jupiter, but I still remember the buzz in the news it made and even at that young age I had a strong fascination with astronomy, so I get almost a nostalgic feeling seeing videos and documentaries about it.

[@jamesbannerman4804]

We could see it with our 4 inch telescope. It was very cool.

[@pamelamays4186]

The Palomar Observatory is in the backyard of my adopted home town of San Diego, California. I visited it during my Camp Palomar sixth grade camp. ☄️🔭

[@Life_42]

Thank you Jupiter for protecting planet Earth!

[@iandeterlingchannel]

Especially enjoying all these new space-related videos

[@TheRilluma]

16:42 in this image jupiters polar jet stream creates octagon or heptagon. (like the hexagon on saturn north pole)

[@crazyeyez1502]

I remember when this happened. Bloody hell, didn't think it was that long ago....

[@FredLombardo]

I was privileged to meet David Levy earlier this year and had a brief conversation with him. An amazing man and his telescope, which I had seen a few days prior was massive as it was being shipped to a museum in Montreal. Won’t soon forget that conversation.

[@yun.mp4728]

Barely cover the topic of ‘space’ but you cover it better than 90% of channels that do! No clickbait! Just straight up facts, or what we know this far. No bs, love it!

[@garyanthony9933]

I'll say again great channel , more space documentary would be appreciated, thanks 👍

[@RobDucharme]

Great job on this one, Simon and team. While I got to enjoy this event right after high school, there is a ton of stuff I didn't know about regarding the backstory, or other details.

[@Beryllahawk]

Same here, that was the summer after I graduated, and I remember it very vividly. In fact when I saw this video pop up I was VERY excited! I wasn't aware of the passing away of the Shoemakers, though. That was one hell of an endnote to a great video.

[@RobDucharme]

@@Beryllahawk Yeah that was news to me as well.. I had a 4" refractor telescope at that time and I remember watching Jupiter but I wasn't patient enough to see any flashes.

[@franl155]

I remember this, but only very vaguely, so thank you for this detailed vid. Weren't NEO's formerly known as ECOs? but Earth-Crossing Orbit sounded too Doomsday; just because it crossed Earth's orbit didn't mean it'd hit us. The prob with diverting a comet is predicting where it'll end up; like putting spin on a pool ball, what other balls is it going to interact with and interfere with, and what effects with they have on yet other balls?

[@aan3]

Big up to Jupiter for protecting earth from the rogue asteroids and other killer debris. And great planetary lesson as always Simon. :)

[@Sevo-]

It blows my mind how little the general public and media talks about these things. What a wild time to be alive

[@robr4662]

I remember watching this happen live on TV when I was a kid.

[@ronheath5724]

Hello Simon great video I'm having being a amateur astronomer for some 40 years now I was fortunate enough to be able to set up my telescope and watch the action happening the first night I actually set it up on three different occasions but it was still pretty fascinating to see and unfortunately I was not able to see any of the actual impact I just saw the scars afterwards the one night that it had an impact which produce that flash of light happened to be a night that we were completely clouded out so I couldn't watch it through my scope now I had a pretty large scope ( 11" ) so it was pretty easy for me to see things I'm really glad that you put this video up because there are just so many people out there that really don't realize what can happen in space

[@theonlyguyman]

Hi Simon 👋☺️

[@Life_42]

Amazing story and timing of the events!

[@MelissaKnox]

Something fun, the explosion caused by Fragment "G" of the Shoemaker-Levy comet crashing into Jupiter remains to this day the largest explosion to ever occur inside the solar system.

[@DoctaOsiris]

I remember when this comet ☄ break up and hit Jupiter. A day or two later all the news on TV were saying that it caused the "storm" on Jupiter to stop, yet I've tried searching for it many times and it doesn't seem to be anywhere and astronomers still insist that the storm has been raging nonstop for at least hundreds of years, so weird... 🤦

[@jameshoiby]

One of my favorite videos of yours ever. Thank you!!!!

[@TheSleepSteward]

That nearly made me cry. That tribute is so beautiful...

[@anothersquid]

I remember looking at that with my 4" scope from my balcony :)

[@surrealsadi841]

I was 11, and wishing I had a telescope and a good place to set it up to watch. This was one of hte most amazing things to happen in my childhood.

[@zukazealanee]

21:35 That is so freaking awesome, good on NASA for making that happen.

[@chrisnelson735]

I love the space videos Simon and team! Keep up the good work!

[@backwoodsjunkie08]

Love the space videos!!!

[@Yorgar]

I remember learning about this growing up, I think it was in late 1997 or late 1998. I was 6 or 7 at the time. Always thought it was really cool.

[@fragrancefree]

"as surely as a bug in the hands of a sadistic kid" well that got dark...

[@missheadbanger]

Deep impact is better than Armageddon, it's scientifically accurate and has more emotional depth. It had a better plot than sending oil riggers to blow up the asteroid.

[@CartoonHero1986]

Shoemaker Levy 9 was actually a pop culture topic for a couple of years too. I remember a lot of sitcoms at the time like The Nanny worked mentioning it into their scripts to make the families feel more real to life living in our world.

[@Krypto_Knight_33]

Great story. I don’t remember it happening so this is good to watch and learn.

[@holliegould3463]

something that was always my fave thing about jupiter was how often we use metrics from our world to identify mere blotches and smears on a planet

[@3618499]

😄" Jupiter to Shoemaker Levy..... " " Hit Me With Your Best Shot " - Pat Benatar

[@garyflatman3263]

Good ol' Eugene & Caroline, respect. :-( bless them.

[@psikeyhackr6914]

"Howling through the void"??? In space no one can hear you howl!

[@clamum9648]

I vaguely remember this happening. Not any details but the fact that it was a thing in the news. Man I was only 11; I thought I was like 14 or something. Didn't realize it was so long ago.

[@thecoolestcorgi4991]

Our best guardian against comets… Jupiter itself. It likely that it’s titanic gravity grows significant numbers of comets away from the inner planets

[@KristenRowenPliske]

I remember watching the news stories about this. I didn’t know about Mr.Shoemaker almost going to the moon with an Apollo mission and then his ashes buried there later.

[@russelllomando8460]

Sod's Law in the UK is known as Murphy's Law in the US. It's pure irony.

[@owenshebbeare2999]

Yet DeMorgan, the most likely person to have been misremembered as "Murphy" was British. American myth says it was named after an American, from the 1950's, or possibly 1948, but the term pre-dates that.

[@ravensdotter6843]

Great episode Simon!

[@Machtyn]

"Then what's to stop one from hitting the Earth?" Answer: Jupiter!

[@stuartfox8499]

I recall the excitement generated by SL 9. IT DID NOT DISSAPOINT THE EXPECTATIONS!

[@Pr1sk1]

Holy hell. How come I never knew that we actually buried someone on moon. Thats amazing.

[@simul8rduude]

Dart was a success. It was able to change it's targets orbit by 30 minutes.

[@Rorschach.]

Every now and then, you come across a youtube video where a single 'like' thumbs up, really doesn't do it justice. Thank you.

[@LordTelperion]

Office of Planetary Defense, baby!