Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 in precovery images obtained before March 24, including Kin Endate from a photograph exposed on March 15, S. Otomo on March 17, and a team led by Eleanor Helin from images on March 19. No precovery images dating back to earlier than March 1993 have been found. Before the comet was captured by Jupiter, it was probably a short-period comet with an aphelion just inside Jupiter's orbit, and a perihelion interior to the asteroid belt. The volume of space within which an object can be said to orbit Jupiter is defined by Jupiter's Hill sphere (also called the Roche sphere).
Carolyn S. Shoemaker Carolyn S. Shoemaker Carolyn Jean Spellmann Shoemaker (born June 24, 1929) is an American astronomer and is a co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9. She once held the record for most comets discovered by an individual. Carolyn Jean Spellmann was born in Gallup, New Mexico, United States. to Leonard and Hazel Arthur Spellmann. Her family moved to Chico, California, where she and her brother Richard grew up. Carolyn Spellmann earned bachelor's and master's degrees in history, political science, and English literature from Chico State University. Richard went to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he earned a bachelor's degree in