The Evolution of Debris from Comet D/Shoemaker–Levy 9 on Jupiter

Abstract

We present low-resolution photometric spectra in the wavelength range 407–907 μm of impact sites G, H, E, C, K, L, Q1, and W plus K together, arising from the collision of Comet D/Shoemaker–Levy 9 with Jupiter. The spectra were obtained from narrow band CCD images taken between July 15th and July 22nd using the 1-m Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope on La Palma. Our results indicate the impact debris to have low overall optical depths (τ < 1) which decrease with increasing wavelength for all individual sites observed. Our results also imply that mass absorption of sunlight is the dominant process occurring in the impact debris and that a decrease in optical depth with time is due to the material dissipating in the jovian atmosphere.