Shoemaker-Levy

English

Etymology

From the surnames of the astronomers Carolyn Shoemaker, Eugene Shoemaker and David Levy, who discovered several comets.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈʃu.meɪˌkɝ ˈlɛ.vi/, enPR: sho͞oʹmā-kûr' lĕʹvi

Proper noun

Shoemaker-Levy

1. Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9, a comet which collided with Jupiter.
   • 1994, The Michigan Alumnus, page 19:

     Everything about last July's six-day-long collision of Jupiter and the twenty-one pieces that had made up Shoemaker-Levy was on the giant Jovian scale.

   • 1994, Astronomy Now:

     Astronomer Eugene Shoemaker reassured reporters even as the biggest fragment of Shoemaker-Levy was no "dinosaur killer".

   • 2012, Russell Gerald Johnston, Random Wisdom, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 462:

     Shoemaker-Levy was broken up into a string of pearls by a close encounter with Jupiter, and on their next orbit the pearls slammed into Jupiter one after the other in quick succession.

Usage notes

Levy and the Shoemakers discovered at least thirteen comets together which are all named Comet Shoemaker-Levy, but Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 is the only one generally referred to without its title or number.