Simulations of the Breakup of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 Employing a Swarm Model: Dynamical Evolution
The breakup of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 due to its gravitational interaction with Jupiter in July, 1994 is simulated using a swarm model. In this simulation, the comet is modeled as an initially spherical distribution of 16,384 particles. The particles interact with the tidal field of Jupiter and with each other through inter-particle gravitation and collisions. All simulations were performed on the Maspar MP-2 at NASA/GSFC.
This animation follows the center of mass of the particles as the clumps form, stopping at several points to rotate and zoom the swarm configuration. The green line connects the center of mass with Jupiter and the box size remains constant at 4 km.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Scientific Visualization Studio
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Animator
- Kevin Olson (George Mason University)
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Scientists
- Kevin Olson (George Mason University)
- Michael Mumma (NASA/GSFC)
Release date
This page was originally published on Friday, March 24, 1995.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 2:00 PM EDT.