Dust as the cause of spots on Jupiter

Details Dust as the cause of spots on Jupiter Dust as the cause of spots on Jupiter

1995-01-09

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9501021v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

3 pages, postscript, compressed with gzip (use gunzip), uuencoded. Accepted for publication on Astronomy and Astrophysics lett

Scientific paper

The long-lived spots caused by the impact of fragments of Comet S-L 9 on Jupiter can be understood if clouds of dust are produced by the impact. These clouds reside in the stratosphere, where they absorb visible light that would ordinarily reflect from the cloud deck below, and reflect radiation at infrared wavelengths that would ordinarily be absorbed by atmospheric methane. Here we show that, provided that the nucleus of a fragment is composed substantially of silicates and has a diameter greater than about 0.4 km, dust in the required amounts will condense from the hot gas composed of cometary and Jovian material ejected from the site where the fragment entered, and the dust will be suspended in the stratosphere for long periods. Particles about 1$\;\mu$m in radius can explain both the optical properties and longevities of the spots. According to our model, a silicate band should be present in the $10 - \mu$m spectra of the spots.

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