A fireball in Jupiter's atmosphere
Abstract
One fireball was photographed during two encounters with Jupiter. Its total luminosity was 1.2×105 0 mag s (at standard range 100 km). If we employ the luminous efficiency proposed by Cook et al. (1981) for slip flow of a meteoroid in its own vapors we obtain an estimated mass of 11 kg. A rough absolute magnitude is -12.5. If we note that we search for a total 223 s during two exposures, we estimate a number density near Jupiter of 7×10-28 cm-3 for masses of meteoroids of 3 kg and greater. This value is about a factor of 6 smaller than a rough upper limit reached from an extrapolation from terrestrial observations of meteors and comets.
- Publication:
-
Journal of Geophysical Research
- Pub Date:
- September 1981
- DOI:
- 10.1029/JA086iA10p08815
- Bibcode:
- 1981JGR....86.8815C
- Keywords:
-
- Fireballs;
- Jupiter Atmosphere;
- Luminous Intensity;
- Meteoroids;
- Voyager 1 Spacecraft;
- Atmospheric Pressure;
- Heat Transfer Coefficients;
- Light Curve;
- Spaceborne Photography;
- JUPITER;
- ATMOSPHERE;
- FIREBALLS;
- LUMINOSITY;
- METEROIDS;
- VAPOR;
- VELOCITY;
- MASS;
- ABSOLUTE MAGNITUDE;
- LIGHT CURVE;
- FLOW;
- FLUX