Four images of Jupiter, from bottom to top: 1) Jupiter with a puff of bright light near its limb. 2) The deep maroon scar of the impact is visible against the stripes of Jupiter's clouds. 3) The impact scar is larger with two distinct regions. 4) The impact scar is becoming more diffuse.

Four Hubble images of Jupiter during the Shoemaker-Levy impact

In 1994, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 broke into 21 large pieces that rained down upon the thick clouds of Jupiter. Shown here, beginning at the lower right and ending in the upper left, is a series of four images documenting the spectacular blackened impact sites as they rotated into view from behind the planet.

Credits: R. Evans, J. Trauger, H. Hammel and the HST Comet Science Team, and NASA