This image taken at 2.26 um shows Jupiter with three impact sites (A, H, and G from left to right), a bright star in the lower center, and Fragment K of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 approximately 45 minutes before impact (arrow; ~2.5 Rj from the planet center) before impact (arrow). The fragment is very faint compared to Jupiter and the star, and the scattered light from Jupiter has been arti- fically suppressed in order to enhance the fragment's contrast versus the back- ground; this process has also reduced the comet's visible extent to that of a point source. The fragment is moving relative to Jupiter in the direction in- dicated by the arrow. Other bright points in the image are faint stars.
This image was taken in a 30 second exposure using the NASA/IRTF 256 x 256 pixel InSb near infrared camera, NSFCAM, at 09:26 July 19, 1994 UT.
Casey Lisse, Phil Esterle, and Mike A'Hearn for the NASA/IRTF Science Team
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