Evolution of the 2009 Single Impact on Jupiter
Abstract
The 19 July 2009 impact on Jupiter captured worldwide attention, and sparked a highly successful WFC3 imaging program during SMOV, with the last Hubble image acquired on 8 August. Continuing ground-based observations have revealed significant differences between this event and the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts in 1994: a single impact event offers a chance to study the longer-term evolution of the impact debris field without confusion due to overlapping aerosol debris clouds, and this debris field evolved more slowly than the SL9 sites. Initial analysis of our first data set reveals possible curved streamlines that correspond to no known tropospheric vortex. To constrain the stratospheric velocity field traced by the impact-generated aerosols, we request 10-hour separated data {a temporal sampling rate which we could not obtain during SMOV} that are crucial for tracking coherent albedo features. We also requested {but were not granted} a single orbit of high-resolution near-infrared images. These data would have provided the sharpest visible and near-infrared images of the site, providing context for the ongoing worldwide campaign of lower-resolution ground-based observations.
- Publication:
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HST Proposal
- Pub Date:
- July 2009
- Bibcode:
- 2009hst..prop12045H