Jupiter just before the L impact on 19 July 1994. This image, taken in the 1.7 micron absorption band of methane, shows numerous impact sites in Jupiter's southern mid-latitudes. Amazingly, the barrage of cometary fragments is only half over at this point. The pre-existing spots correspond to (from left to right) the K, C, A, E/F, and H fragments. The Great Red Spot is just disappearing over the western (right) limb.
Image taken with the MAGIC infrared camera on the 3.5 meter telescope on Calar Alto.
Picture Credits:
Tom Herbst, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astronomie, Heidelberg, Doug Hamilton, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Hermann Boehnhardt, Universitaets-Sternewarte, Muenchen, and Jose Luis Ortiz Moreno, Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, Granada.
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