Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 approaching Jupiter, illustration. The fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 hit Jupiter in July 1994, in a series of massive explosions that were directly observed by the Galileo spacecraft as it headed towards Jupiter, and later by other probes and telescopes. The impacts increased our understanding of both Jupiter and comets. The atmospheric turbulence that was created by the impacts remained visible for months afterwards.