Impact Jupiter - by David Levy (Paperback)

About the Book

"The definitive memoir of the unfolding of the S-L 9 episode."--"Publishers Weekly"

Book Synopsis

On July 16, 1994 a world-shattering event occurred that would rivet our attention for six explosive days and go on to make history as the single most important celestial event of the century. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashed into Jupiter, changing forever our understanding of comets and cosmic cataclysms. Our own sense of security would never be the same as the world witnessed fragment after fragment of the comet bash into Jupiter with the collective equivalent force of a 50-million-megaton bomb. David Levy, co-discoverer of periodic Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, shares his once-in-several-lifetimes' story from the time of the discovery, with Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker, of this unusual "squashed" comet to the later shocking revelation of hearing that "their" comet was destined to collide with Jupiter. Never in recorded history has a comet created such a catastrophic event as smashing into a planet. Impact Jupiter takes off where David Levy's earlier acclaimed book, The Quest for Comets, left us. Magnificent photos of the impacts, including superb color pictures, accompany David's poetic words, vividly bringing to life his thrilling story. Savor the words of one of the world's most celebrated amateur astronomers as he humbly and eloquently opens the beauty of the heavens to all who are curious.

About the Author

David H. Levy has discovered twenty-one comets, eight of them using his own backyard telescope. He is the Science Editor for Parade magazine and author of several books including Comets: Creators and Destroyers. He also writes the monthly "Star Trails" column in Sky and Telescope. He also won an Emmy for his writing on the Discovery Channel's documentary Three Minutes to Impact. He lives in Arizona.