Infrared Detection of an Impact on Jupiter by the R Fragment of Shoemaker-Levy 9

Details Infrared Detection of an Impact on Jupiter by the R Fragment of Shoemaker-Levy 9 Infrared Detection of an Impact on Jupiter by the R Fragment of Shoemaker-Levy 9

Dec 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996jass...13..160k&link_type=abstract

Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences, vol. 13, no. 2, p. 160-167.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

We have detected a sudden brightening in IR images of Jupiter due to an impact of the R fragment of P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter. The detection of the impact brightening was made with a 2.12 micron filter to isolate the H2 S(0) pressure induced dipole absorption at McDonald Observatory, Texas, U. S. A.. The brigtening started at 05:41 (UT), on July 21, 1994, about 12 minutes later than the predicted impact time of the fragment R, and lasted about 10 minutes. Our data show that the impact flux increased by a factor of 2 in consecutive images taken 18 seconds apart, and saturated the detector at its peak brightness. Before the main brightening, two faint and brief flux increases were detected at 05:35 and 05:36. The first increase may be interpreted as meteor-like light due to friction between the entering fragment and the upper atmosphere. The second increase is thought to originate from a rising fireball after an explosion of the fragment at a low altitude. Our detection of these two events confirms observations of Graham et al. (1995) at 2.3 μm. The main flux increase at 05:41 was caused by thermal emission from dusts and debris falling back to the atmosphere. We estimate a lower limit of total radiation energy of 3 x 1024 erg, which is only 0.3% of kinetic energy of an impacting body as large as the R fragment.

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