Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 by the comet fragments punching through the upper atmosphere. Spectroscopic studies revealed absorption lines in the Jovian spectrum due to diatomic sulfur (S) and carbon disulfide (CS), the first detection of either in Jupiter, and only the second detection of S in any astronomical object. Other molecules detected included ammonia (NH) and hydrogen sulfide (HS). The amount of sulfur implied by the quantities of these compounds was much greater than the amount that would be expected in a small cometary nucleus, showing that material from within Jupiter was being revealed. Oxygen-bearing molecules such as sulfur dioxide were not detected, to
Astronomical symbols Ω (capital omega), which was originally a typographical substitute for the astronomical symbol. The symbols for aspects first appear in Byzantine codices. Of the symbols for the five Ptolemaic aspects, only the three displayed here—for conjunction, opposition, and quadrature—are used in astronomy. Symbols for a comet (☄) and a star () have been used in published astronomical observations of comets. In tables of these observations, ☄ stood for the comet being discussed and for the star of comparison relative to which measurements of the comet's position were made. Astronomical symbols Astronomical symbols are abstract pictorial symbols used to represent astronomical