[Drew68]

in 1994, scientists watched as comet Shoemaker-Levy collided with Jupiter. It exploded in the Jovian atmosphere, and the Hubble telescope recorded the largest incandescent fireball ever witnessed rising over Jupiter's horizon.

I was always perplexed by this. I'm sure there is a simple scientific explanation. If Jupiter is a big ball of gas with no solid surface anywhere, what did Shoemaker-Levy impact against? And how was it that those black "scars" remained for some time where it impacted being that the comet flew into gas?

Just curious.

[LonePalm]

At the speed the remnants of S-L9 were traveling, the Jovian atmosphere would have seemed nearly solid. The near instantaneous incandation would have been more than enough to ignite the methane in the atmosphere.

Try doing a belly flop off a 3-meter board and see how 'soft' the water feels.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)