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Ejecta Pattern of the Impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9The collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL 9) with Jupiter created crescent-shaped ejecta patterns around impact sites. Although the observed impact plumes rose through a similar height of approx.3000 km, the radii of the created ejects patterns differ from impact to impact and generally are larger for larger impacts. The azimuthal angle of the symmetry axis of the ejects pattern is larger than that predicted by the models of oblique impacts, due to the action of the Coriolis force that rotates ejecta patterns counterclockwise from the south. We study the formation of ejects patterns using a simple model of ballistic plume above a rotating plane. The ejected particles follow ballistic trajectories and slide horizontally for about an hour after reentry into the jovian atmosphere. The lateral expansion of the plume is stopped by the friction force, which is assumed to be proportional to the square of the horizontal velocity. Two different mass-velocity distributions used in the simulations produce qualitatively similar results. The simulated ejecta patterns fit very well the "crescents" observed at the impact sites. The sizes and azimuthal angles of symmetry axis of ejects patterns depend on a parameter L, which has dimension of length and is related to the mass of the fragment. Thus more massive impacts produce larger ejects patterns that are rotated through a wider angle.
Document ID
20020049435
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Pankine, Alexey A.
(California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Ingersoll, Andrew P.
(California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Date Acquired
August 20, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1999
Publication Information
Publication: Icarus
Publisher: Academic Press
Volume: 138
ISSN: 0019-1035
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-4191
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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