Eugene Merle Shoemaker Eugene Merle Shoemaker Eugene Merle Shoemaker (April 28, 1928 – July 18, 1997), also known as Gene Shoemaker, was an American geologist and one of the founders of the field of planetary science. He is best known for co-discovering the Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 with his wife Carolyn S. Shoemaker and David H. Levy. This comet hit Jupiter in July 1994: the impact was televised around the world. Shoemaker was also well known for his studies of terrestrial craters, such as Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona. Shoemaker was the first scientist to conclude that these craters were caused by meteor impact.
Great Comet of 1744 "dust striae" seen in the tails of some comets, such as Comet West and C/2006 P1 (McNaught). Chéseaux, on March 9, was the last known observer in the northern hemisphere to see the comet, but it remained visible for observers in the southern hemisphere, some of whom reported a tail length of approximately 90 degrees on March 18. The comet was not seen after April 22, 1744. The comet also was noted in Japanese astronomical records in the "Nihon Odai Ichiran" of the Kanpō era. Researchers have found in Chinese astronomical records that some Chinese observations describe audible sounds associated