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Name: debbie c brodowski
Status: N/A
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 1993 - 1999
Question:
What can you tell us about the "string of pearls" around Jupiter?

Replies:
This is a term that refers to a broken-up comet named Shoemaker-Levy 9 which is currently in orbit around Jupiter. The comet was broken up by Jupiter's strong gravity, and now consists of about 20 kind-of-roundish fragments traveling one behind the other; someone thought this looked a bit like a string of pearls and the name stuck. There have been photos in recent issues of Astronomy and Sky & Telescope magazines.

RC Winther


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