Dust as the cause of spots on Jupiter
Abstract
The long-lived spots caused by the impact of fragments of Comet S-L 9 on Jupiter can be understood if clouds of dust are produced by the impact. These clouds reside in the stratosphere, where they absorb visible light that would ordinarily reflect from the cloud deck below, and reflect radiation at infrared wavelengths that would ordinarily be absorbed by atmospheric methane. Here we show that, provided that the nucleus of a fragment is composed substantially of silicates and has a diameter greater than about 0.4km, dust in the required amounts will condense from the hot gas composed of cometary and Jovian material ejected from the site where the fragment entered, and the dust will be suspended in the stratosphere for long periods. Particles about 1μm in radius can explain both the optical properties and longevities of the spots. According to our model, a silicate band should be present in the 10-μm spectra of the spots.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- February 1995
- Bibcode:
- 1995A&A...294L..53F
- Keywords:
-
- Cometary Collisions;
- Jupiter Atmosphere;
- Jupiter Red Spot;
- Meteoroid Dust Clouds;
- Shoemaker-Levy 9 Comet;
- Jupiter (Planet);
- Methane;
- Silicates;
- Stratosphere Radiation;
- Astrophysics;
- COMET: INDIVIDUAL: SHOEMAKER-LEVY 9;
- PLANETS AND SATELLITES: INDIVIDUAL: JUPITER