Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9
Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was a really big space rock, kind of like a snowball, that was flying through space minding its own business. But then, it came too close to Jupiter, the biggest planet in our solar system. Jupiter is so big and has such a strong gravity, that it pulled the comet apart into many smaller pieces, like breaking a cookie into crumbs.
These pieces started to fall towards Jupiter and it was like throwing lots of pebbles at a big bouncy ball. When the pieces hit Jupiter's atmosphere, they made huge explosions that were bigger than any fireworks we see on Earth. They were like really big booms that happened one after the other, for many days.
Scientists watched all of this happen with telescopes and spacecrafts, and learned a lot about comets, Jupiter, and our solar system from this event. It was a bit like a natural lesson that helped us understand how big things in space interact with each other.
These pieces started to fall towards Jupiter and it was like throwing lots of pebbles at a big bouncy ball. When the pieces hit Jupiter's atmosphere, they made huge explosions that were bigger than any fireworks we see on Earth. They were like really big booms that happened one after the other, for many days.
Scientists watched all of this happen with telescopes and spacecrafts, and learned a lot about comets, Jupiter, and our solar system from this event. It was a bit like a natural lesson that helped us understand how big things in space interact with each other.