A New View of the SL9-Jupiter Impacts Based on the SPIREX Results
Abstract
I present a revised picture of the impacts of the fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter. This work is based on the results of the South Pole Infrared Explorer (SPIREX). The SPIREX telescope enjoyed a nearly uninterrupted view of this event from it's unique vantage point, providing a large and uniform overview of the fragment impacts. I will first present a review of the SPIREX 2.22 and 2.36 micron lightcurves taken during eighteen of the predicted impact times. I will then discuss their implications, including impact timings and energies. Most importantly, I have concluded that the impacts of the middle-train fragments differed from those of the other fragments. They produced what I call a prolonged ``fountain'' of ejecta. I will discuss the significance of this finding.
- Publication:
-
AAS/Division for Planetary Sciences Meeting Abstracts #30
- Pub Date:
- September 1998
- Bibcode:
- 1998DPS....30.4005S