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The Hubble Space Telescope imaged multiple impacts from Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter in 1994. (Hubble Space Telescope Comet Team and NASA)

Speaker Series: The Canadian comet sleuth

Join Canadian comet discoverer David Levy as he speaks about major events of his life — like finding one of the most popular comets in our lifetimes.

Comet NEOWISE has been the sensation of our July skies, the first naked-eye comet for the Northern Hemisphere in ages.

Canadian amateur astronomer David Levy has written many columns in SkyNews over the past 25 years. (Wendee Levy)

David Levy knows all about comets that snag the spotlight. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which broke apart in July 1992 and collided with Jupiter in July 1994, garnered the “Canadian comet sleuth” media attention around the world, including the headline on the very first cover of SkyNews 25 years ago.

Join The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s Jenna Hinds and SkyNews‘ Allendria Brunjes as they sit down with Levy in this Speaker Series session.

Levy has discovered 22 comets, given innumerable lectures and written countless articles and more than 30 books — including an autobiography, A Nightwatchman’s Journey. There’s an asteroid named in his honour, and his awards include the Chant Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

The full list of SkyNews co-hosted Speaker Series talks and recaps is available here.

This talk took place on Thursday, July 29, 2020, at 7 p.m. EDT.