Numerical modeling of the disruption of Comet D/1993 F2 Shoemaker-Levy 9 representing the progenitor by a gravitationally bound assemblage of randomly shaped polyhedra

Naor Movshovitz, Erik Asphaug, Donald Korycansky

We advance the modeling of rubble-pile solid bodies by re-examining the tidal breakup of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, an event that occurred during a 1.33 Jupiter radii encounter with t…