Jupiter's Synchrotron Radiation: Observed Variations before, during and after the Impacts of Comet SL-9
Abstract
Results of an observing program to monitor the synchrotron radio emission from Jupiter's inner radiation belts after the impact of Comet SL-9 are reported. The observations were made at 2295 MHz as part of the NASA-JPL Jupiter Patrol, a long term radio astronomy monitoring program begun in 1971. Data from the monitoring program illustrates the long-term variability of the synchrotron radiation with timescales of months to years. Jupiter Patrol observations taken during the period surrounding the Comet SL-9 impacts [Klein et al., 1995] indicate that the intensity of the synchrotron emission at 13 cm wavelength increased by 27 percent within a few days after the comet impacts and the magnetic latitude beaming curves flattened after the week of the impacts. In this paper we report new observations made in 1995-96 showing that the microwave brightening following the comet impacts has decayed with an e-folding time of approximately 170 days and that a new outburst, presumably unrelated to the SL-9 impacts, may have occurred in August 1995.
- Publication:
-
Planetary Radio Emission IV
- Pub Date:
- 1997
- Bibcode:
- 1997pre4.conf..217K
- Keywords:
-
- Planetary radio emissions;
- Jupiter (Planet);
- synchrotron radiation;
- Comet SL-9