Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 then fell to below pre-impact temperatures 2–3 weeks afterwards, before rising slowly to normal temperatures. SL9 is not unique in having orbited Jupiter for a time; five comets, (including 82P/Gehrels, 147P/Kushida–Muramatsu, and 111P/Helin–Roman–Crockett) are known to have been temporarily captured by the planet. Cometary orbits around Jupiter are unstable, as they will be highly elliptical and likely to be strongly perturbed by the Sun's gravity at apojove (the furthest point on the orbit from the planet). By far the most massive planet in the Solar System, Jupiter can capture objects relatively frequently, but the size of SL9 makes it a
Naming of comets the past, when multiple comets were discovered by the same individual, group of individuals, or team, the comets' names were distinguished by adding a numeral to the discoverers' names (but only for periodic comets); thus Comets Shoemaker–Levy 1 to 9 (discovered by Carolyn Shoemaker, Eugene Shoemaker & David Levy). Today, the large numbers of comets discovered by some instruments makes this system impractical, and no attempt is made to ensure that each comet is given a unique name. Instead, the comets' systematic designations are used to avoid confusion. Until 1994, comets were first given a provisional designation consisting of the