The Evolution of Debris from Comet D/Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter

J. E. Little*, A. Fitzsimmons, P. J. Andrews, R. Catchpole, N. Walton, I. P. Williams

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

We present low-resolution photometric spectra in the wavelength range 407-907 μm of impact sites G, H, E, C, K, L, Q1, and W plus K together, arising from the collision of Comet D/Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter. The spectra were obtained from narrow band CCD images taken between July 15th and July 22nd using the 1-m Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope on La Palma. Our results indicate the impact debris to have low overall optical depths (τ < 1) which decrease with increasing wavelength for all individual sites observed. Our results also imply that mass absorption of sunlight is the dominant process occurring in the impact debris and that a decrease in optical depth with time is due to the material dissipating in the jovian atmosphere.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)334-340
Number of pages7
JournalIcarus
Volume131
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01 Feb 1998

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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