Lost comet Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9, which collided with Jupiter in 1994. Lost comet A comet is "lost" when it has been missed at its most recent perihelion passage. This generally happens when data is insufficient to reliably calculate the comet's orbit and predict its location. The "D/" designation is used for a periodic comet that no longer exists or is deemed to have disappeared. Lost comets can be compared to lost minor planets, although calculation of comet orbits differs because of nongravitational forces, such as emission of jets of gas from the nucleus. Some astronomers have specialized in this area, such as
Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 largest impacts. The waves were thought to be travelling within a stable layer acting as a waveguide, and some scientists thought the stable layer must lie within the hypothesised tropospheric water cloud. However, other evidence seemed to indicate that the cometary fragments had not reached the water layer, and the waves were instead propagating within the stratosphere. Radio observations revealed a sharp increase in continuum emission at a wavelength of after the largest impacts, which peaked at 120% of the normal emission from the planet. This was thought to be due to synchrotron radiation, caused by the injection of relativistic