read the passage. a comet is an object that travels through space. it is composed of a solid core with a…

read the passage. a comet is an object that travels through space. it is composed of a solid core with a long \tail.\ its core, or nucleus, consists of rock, dust, and ice. its tail is a trailing cloud of dust and gas. in 1993, astronomers identified a previously unknown comet, which was given the name shoemaker - levy 9. they calculated its orbit and realized that the comet would soon collide with the planet jupiter. in the summer of 1994, they prepared to observe the impact. shoemaker - levy 9 was not a typical comet. astronomers determined that previously, most likely in about 1929, the comet had come close to jupiter. the tremendous pull of the planets gravity shattered the comets nucleus into about 21 pieces, permanently changing the comets appearance. unlike most comets, which have a nucleus that looks like a single point of light, shoemaker - levy 9 had a nucleus that resembled a string of glowing beads. in 1994, these fragments slammed into jupiters atmosphere when the comets orbit again brought it near the planet. the collision occurred on a side of jupiter that was out of view of earth - based telescopes. however, within a few hours, the planet had rotated so that astronomers could observe the impact sites. the sites looked like dark patches on the planet. the dark patches were actually clouds composed of comet dust and gases, which remained visible for months. choose the two central ideas developed in the passage. 1. shoemaker - levy 9 was an unusual comet. 2. shoemaker - levy 9 collided with jupiter in 1994. 3. shoemaker - levy 9 was not discovered until 1993. 4. astronomers were able to calculate the orbit of shoemaker - levy 9. 5. astronomers had to wait to observe the impact sites of shoemaker - levy 9.

read the passage. a comet is an object that travels through space. it is composed of a solid core with a long \tail.\ its core, or nucleus, consists of rock, dust, and ice. its tail is a trailing cloud of dust and gas. in 1993, astronomers identified a previously unknown comet, which was given the name shoemaker - levy 9. they calculated its orbit and realized that the comet would soon collide with the planet jupiter. in the summer of 1994, they prepared to observe the impact. shoemaker - levy 9 was not a typical comet. astronomers determined that previously, most likely in about 1929, the comet had come close to jupiter. the tremendous pull of the planets gravity shattered the comets nucleus into about 21 pieces, permanently changing the comets appearance. unlike most comets, which have a nucleus that looks like a single point of light, shoemaker - levy 9 had a nucleus that resembled a string of glowing beads. in 1994, these fragments slammed into jupiters atmosphere when the comets orbit again brought it near the planet. the collision occurred on a side of jupiter that was out of view of earth - based telescopes. however, within a few hours, the planet had rotated so that astronomers could observe the impact sites. the sites looked like dark patches on the planet. the dark patches were actually clouds composed of comet dust and gases, which remained visible for months. choose the two central ideas developed in the passage. 1. shoemaker - levy 9 was an unusual comet. 2. shoemaker - levy 9 collided with jupiter in 1994. 3. shoemaker - levy 9 was not discovered until 1993. 4. astronomers were able to calculate the orbit of shoemaker - levy 9. 5. astronomers had to wait to observe the impact sites of shoemaker - levy 9.

Answer

Brief Explanations:

The passage first describes Shoemaker - Levy 9 as an unusual comet (its nucleus was shattered into pieces and different from typical comets). Then it details the 1994 collision with Jupiter. Other points like discovery year, orbit calculation, and waiting to observe impact sites are secondary details.

Answer:

  1. Shoemaker - Levy 9 was an unusual comet.
  2. Shoemaker - Levy 9 collided with Jupiter in 1994.