QUESTION: Is there any residual heat signatures detectable by Galileo from the sl9 comet impact? If not, when did the "fires" finally die away? ANSWER from Chris Tanski on March 3, 1997: The fireballs died down approximately ten minutes after they formed according to observations by ground and space-based telescopes. About 30 minutes after the fireballs were formed, they turned into big dark clouds, "dark spots" and were easily visibles with ground-based telescopes. The major structures were still visible several months later.