Plume Development of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 Comet Impact

Abstract

We have studied plume formation after a Jovian comet impact using the ZEUS-MP 2 hydrodynamics code. The three-dimensional models followed objects with 500, 750, and 1000 meter diameters. Our simulations show the development of a fast, upward-moving component of the plume in the wake of the impacting comet that "pinches off" from the bulk of the cometary material ~50 km below the 1 bar pressure level, ~100 km above the depth of greatest mass and energy deposition. The fast-moving component contains about twice the mass of the initial comet, but consists almost entirely (>99.9%) of Jovian atmosphere rather than cometary material. The ejecta rise mainly along the impact trajectory, but an additional vertical velocity component due to buoyancy establishes itself within seconds of impact, leading to an asymmetry in the ejecta with respect to the entry trajectory. The mass of the upward-moving component follows a velocity distribution M(>v) approximately proportional to v^-1.4 (v^-1.6 for the 750 m and 500 m cases) in the velocity range 0.1 < v < 10 km/s.

5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (6)

• Simulating Radiating and Magnetized Flows in Multi-Dimensions with ZEUS-MP
• The impact of a large object with Jupiter in July 2009
• First Earth-based Detection of a Superbolide on Jupiter
• Shoemaker-Levy 9 Impact Modeling: I. High-Resolution 3D Bolides
• Models of the SL9 Impacts II. Radiative-hydrodynamic Modeling of the Plume Splashback
• Models of the SL9 Impacts I. Ballistic Monte-Carlo Plume

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• Small impacts on the giant planet Jupiter
• Numerical Modeling of the 2009 Impact Event on Jupiter