Artist's impression of fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 approaching and striking the planet Jupiter in July 1994. Fragments of the comet are seen in the foreground, outgassing in the solar wind. Gas of different colours is produced by different elements in the cometary fragments. On the planet is a large explosion as one fragment disintegrates in Jupiter's atmosphere. The comet was broken apart by Jupiter's gravity field during a close encounter in July 1992.