Before being broken up, SL-9 was probably on the order of 5 km across. It would have been exciting if it had hit one of those other bodies, but nothing too crazy (it wouldn't have broken one apart or anything like that). The one that is thought to have killed the dinosaurs was on the order of 10km.Pangaea said:But not Earth.
Scenario 1: SL9 hits Mars.
Scenario 2: SL9 hits the Moon.
Scenario 3: SL9 hits Venus.
That's not a complete sentence and doesn't make a lot of sense, but I think you are saying that it is ironic that Jupiter was the one struck. Not really: being the largest body in the solar system besides the sun makes it the most likely to be hit.Ironically Jupiter would be the comet thrower here most likely yes?
I assume you're talking about largest gravity well, since the planetary bodies are the equivalent of hitting a BB with another BB from miles away.russ_watters said:being the largest body in the solar system besides the sun makes it the most likely to be hit.
SL9, also known as Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, was a comet that broke apart and collided with Jupiter in 1994.
Scientists believe that SL9 was disrupted by the strong gravitational forces of Jupiter, causing it to break into multiple fragments.
A total of 21 fragments of SL9 collided with Jupiter over the course of several days.
The impact of SL9 on Jupiter created large fireballs and released a tremendous amount of energy, leaving behind dark scars on Jupiter's surface.
While it is unlikely for another comet to collide with Jupiter in the same way as SL9, there is always a possibility for other objects to impact Jupiter in the future.