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Prospects for Jovian seismological observations following the impact of comet Shoemaker‐Levy 9
Author(s) -
Deming Drake
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/94gl00889
Subject(s) - jovian , comet , physics , amplitude , jupiter (rocket family) , stratosphere , geology , observable , thermal , geophysics , astronomy , astrophysics , optics , planet , atmospheric sciences , meteorology , quantum mechanics , saturn , space shuttle
The impact of each fragment of comet SL‐9 will produce a downward‐propagating pressure wave which will travel at the sound speed through the jovian interior. Since the sound speed increases with depth, most of the energy in the pressure pulse will be strongly refracted and return to the surface, as recently computed by Marley (1994). This wave may in principle be observable as it propagates into the stratosphere, using sufficiently sensitive thermal infrared imaging. If so, it will provide a unique opportunity to constrain models of the jovian interior. This paper extends Marley's calculations to include the effect of the limited spatial resolution which will be characteristic of real observations. The wave pattern on the disk will consist of closely spaced regions of alternating temperature increases and decreases. Spatial averaging will significantly reduce the observed amplitude for resolutions attainable using earth‐based telescopes, but the waves should remain above the detection limit.