Detectability of water-ice clouds expected after the P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact with Jupiter at near-infrared molecular bands

Abstract

The predicted crash of periodic comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into Jupiter in mid-July 1994 is expected to release a considerable amount of cometary material, which is mainly composed of water, into Jupiter's atmosphere. This released water will form a water-ice cloud layer in the stratosphere. We estimated the reflected sunlight from the impact cloud at near-infrared wavelengths using a radiative transfer model. It was found that the cloud is likely to be observable when we choose some strong molecular absorption band such as methane for imaging observation, because we get higher contrast between the cometary ice cloud and background scattered light from the lower ammonia clouds at these wavelengths. This cometary cloud can be used as an atmospheric tracer of the upper troposphere and the stratosphere of Jupiter.