how long were Schumaker-Levy "scars" visible on Jupiter

[Robert_T]

Hi All, I missed this event entirely. I miss most important ones

I had thought that the impacts from the coment fragments would only have been visible for minutes or hours. I read in Wikpedia it was visible for months? That doesn't sound right. Is it?

[bird (Anthony Wesley)]

yes, I remember it well. The dark marks were visible for weeks at least.

cheers, Bird

[Lester]

If only we could have imaged Jupiter like we do now and capture such an event.

I remember viewing it visually after the event had happened, didn't think to look as the impacts were happening.

[iceman (Mike)]

I missed it too..
Imagine the images that amateurs would get these days!

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

Yes, months was right. I think for us earthbound observers it was at least a month but Hubble was able to detect them for longer. Wikipedia is correct.

I remember I was able to see the result of one of the larger impacts just after it occurred (because they were all on the dark side) and it grew and changed over two hours as Jupiter rotated around. It was a seminal moment in my observing history that night - the universe was no longer seemingly static in my short lifetime, it really became a living, changing thing.

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

Ok, have dug out the old page (I remembered I had it scanned for something else) so you can see what I saw that night.

[ngcles]

Hi Robert & All,

Yes, the entry at Wikipedia is correct. I was without doubt one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in the sky/through the 'scope.

The individual spots were dark grey/brownish with a hint of violet colour and easily visible in small/moderate and moderate sized telescopes. The G spot was the most prominent (and slightly annular) followed (I think) by C about 5-odd persisted for weeks as discrete spots but over the course of time, they all faded and joined up to make a slightly darker belt on Jupiter that was like that for maybe 2-3 months before it completely faded out.

I wasn't there then, but I'm told the queue at Sydney Observatory to see the spots through the 11 1/2" refractor and the C-14 (then) was over 200m long.

My prediction before the event was that it would end up being a non-event and unlikely to be seen in amateur 'scopes. Boy was I wrong! Glad I was too. For me, it was right up there with:

Supernova 1987A
Comet McNaught
Total Solar Eclipse 1976
Total Solar Eclipse 2002
Apollo landings

Best,

Les D
Contributing Editor
AS&T

[Robert_T]

Thanks Guys, great info, but it's a pity on two counts

1) I missed this - how did I miss it

2) I now owe a guy a Beer cos I bet the effects couldn't have lasted more than a few hours at most

cheers,

Rob

[MrB (Simon)]

I kinda missed it too, didn't have a scope at the time so was limited to the mass media and Sky & Space and Southern Sky(RIP ) mags, still enjoyed every second tho.
Didn't miss Halley's, SN1987A and Hale-Bopp though, even though I was limited to 7x50's