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
Thomas Bopp Planetarium at the university. In 1997, as comet Hale–Bopp reached its brightest point, Bopp's brother and sister-in-law were killed in a car accident after photographing the comet. "This has been the best week of my life. And the worst," Bopp told a "National Geographic" reporter. Bopp and his father Frank have had an asteroid named after them, , discovered October 5, 1991, by Carolyn and Gene Shoemaker. In 1997 Gene Shoemaker and his wife, both famous for co-discovering comet Shoemaker–Levy 9, were involved in a fatal car crash while observing Hale-Bopp. Gene died in the crash and his ashes were