What is it about?
One of the best ground-based infrared telescopes was used to observe the impacts of the fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter. The temperature rise and fall in the stratosphere and troposphere from the explosions was observed, and material lofted from the troposphere into the stratosphere was detected, including ammonia. The impacts even had a long-term effect on the polar aurora.
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Why is it important?
Infrared light is not visible to human eyes, but provides detailed information about temperature that is not otherwise easily obtained by remote sensing. Spectral lines in infrared bands are also diagnostic of the existence and abundance of many different chemical species. The comet impacts on Jupiter provided natural experiments to uniquely probe the atmosphere's thermal and chemical makeup.
Perspectives
July and August, the timeframe of the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts on Jupiter, are not generally friendly months to the Infrared Telescope Facility, which sits on top of the central peak of Hawaii's Big Island. Bad weather did in fact plague this observing campaign, nevertheless Glenn Orton and his team were able to persevere and make these critical observations.
Professor Timothy E. Dowling
University of Louisville
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter observed by the NASA infrared telescope facility, Science, March 1995, American Association for the Advancement of Science,
DOI: 10.1126/science.7871423.
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