THE IMPACT OF A LARGE OBJECT ON JUPITER IN 2009 JULY

Journal Article · Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/715/2/L155· OSTI ID:21448694

Sanchez-Lavega, A; Hueso, R; Perez-Hoyos, S ^[1]; Wesley, A ^[2]; Orton, G; Yanamandra-Fisher, P; Chodas, P ^[3]; Fletcher, L N ^[4]; Legarreta, J ^[5]; De Pater, I ^[6]; Hammel, H ^[7]; Simon-Miller, A ^[8]; Gomez-Forrellad, J M; Garcia-Melendo, E ^[9]; Ortiz, J L ^[10]

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1. Dpto. FIsica Aplicada I, Escuela Superior de Ingenieros, Universidad del PaIs Vasco, Alameda Urquijo s/n, 48013 Bilbao (Spain)
2. Acquerra Pty. Ltd., 82 Merryville Drive, Murrumbateman, NSW 2582 (Australia)
3. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive Pasadena, California, 91109 (United States)
4. Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU (United Kingdom)
5. Escuela Universitaria Ingenieria Tecnica Industrial, Plaza de la Casilla 3, 48012 Bilbao (Spain)
6. University of California, 601 Campbell Hall, Berkeley CA 94720 (United States)
7. Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Avenue, Suite 205, Boulder, CO 80301 (United States)
8. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
9. Fundacio Observatori Esteve Duran, Montseny 46 - Urb. El Montanya, 08553 Seva, Barcelona (Spain)
10. Instituto de AstrofIsica de Andalucia, CSIC, Apt. 3004, 18080 Granada (Spain)

On 2009 July 19, we observed a single, large impact on Jupiter at a planetocentric latitude of 55{sup 0}S. This and the Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9) impacts on Jupiter in 1994 are the only planetary-scale impacts ever observed. The 2009 impact had an entry trajectory in the opposite direction and with a lower incidence angle than that of SL9. Comparison of the initial aerosol cloud debris properties, spanning 4800 km east-west and 2500 km north-south, with those produced by the SL9 fragments and dynamical calculations of pre-impact orbit indicates that the impactor was most probably an icy body with a size of 0.5-1 km. The collision rate of events of this magnitude may be five to ten times more frequent than previously thought. The search for unpredicted impacts, such as the current one, could be best performed in 890 nm and K (2.03-2.36 {mu}m) filters in strong gaseous absorption, where the high-altitude aerosols are more reflective than Jupiter's primary clouds.

• OSTI ID: 21448694
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 715, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/715/2/L155; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
AEROSOLS
COLLISIONS
INCIDENCE ANGLE
JUPITER PLANET
PLANETARY ATMOSPHERES
ATMOSPHERES
COLLOIDS
DISPERSIONS
PLANETS
SOLS