Abstract
In the months after the discovery, a series of surprises kept up our excitement level. The first, an observational one, was that the comet was disrupted into so many pieces. The other bombshells were mathematical, revealed only after our understanding of the comet’s orbit deepened. Surprise No. 2: That the comet had passed very close to Jupiter, allowing its gravitational pull to tear it apart. Surprise No. 3: That the comet had abandoned its direct solar orbit and become a satellite of Jupiter. And, finally, Surprise No. 4: That the comet’s orbit was its last, and that it would, in fact, collide with Jupiter.
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© 1995 David H. Levy
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Levy, D.H. (1995). A Scorpion’s Embrace. In: Impact Jupiter. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6102-0_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6102-0_3
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