Jupiter's Atmosphere at the Latitudes of the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 Impacts

Description of the Area:

This observation targets Jupiter's limb to search for small particles in the stratosphere remaining from the 1994 impacts of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (S-L9) into Jupiter, and to map their distribution in latitude. An enormous number (about 10^28) of small (0.25- micron radius) particles were injected into Jupiter's stratosphere during the week of the S-L9 impacts. Since the stratosphere is stable against convection , these particles last for many months and only slowly settle down into the troposphere where they are rapidly mixed with cloud and haze material and become lost in Jupiter's haze. Although most of them are gone now, these images are designed to search for any remaining trace. The SSI strategy is to target the bright limb of Jupiter between the equator and south pole. The line of sight along the limb passes though about 80 times more material than it would looking straight down, and the background of space enhances sensitivity to thin aerosol layers. Observation of the latitude distribution of haze particles from the comet impacts is important because of what we may learn about circulation in Jupiter's stratosphere. The particles serve as tracers for the circulation in a region of the atmosphere (the stratosphere) where none existed before.

Questions we hope to answer:

• What are the circulation patterns in Jupiter's stratosphere?
• How fast do eddies (vortices like the Great Red Spot, and other less distinct features) move material from one latitude to another?
• Do the zonal jets impose barriers to transport in the north/south direction?
• What is the nature of the residual, long-term average meridional (north-south and vertical) circulation?

These questions feed back to related issues of importance for the stratosphere, including transports of heat and trace chemical constituents, and processes like wave forcing of the mean motion.

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Galileo Solid State Imaging Team Leader: Dr. Michael J. S. Belton

The SSI Education and Public Outreach webpages were originally created and managed by Matthew Fishburn and Elizabeth Alvarez with significant assistance from Kelly Bender, Ross Beyer, Detrick Branston, Stephanie Lyons, Eileen Ryan, and Nalin Samarasinha.

Last updated: September 17, 1999, by Matthew Fishburn

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