Plume Development of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 Comet Impact

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.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Plume Development of The Shoemaker-Levy 9 Comet Impact

We have studied the 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 m 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 similar to 50 km below the 1 bar pressure level, similar to 100 km above the depth of the greatest mass and energy deposition. The fast-moving component contains about twice the mass of the initial comet, but consists almost entirely ( \u3e 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( \u3e upsilon) approximately proportional to upsilon (1.4) (upsilon (1.6) for the 750 m and 500 m cases) in the velocity range 0.1 km s(-1) \u3c upsilon \u3c 10 km s(-1)

Numerical Modeling of The 2009 Impact Event On Jupiter

We have investigated the 2009 July impact event on Jupiter using the ZEUS-MP 2 three-dimensional hydrodynamics code. We studied the impact itself and the following plume development. Eight impactors were considered: 0.5 km and 1 km porous (rho = 1.760 g cm (3)) and non-porous (rho = 2.700 g cm (3)) basalt impactors, and 0.5 km and 1 km porous (rho = 0.600 g cm(-3)) and non-porous (rho = 0.917 g cm(-3)) ice impactors. The simulations consisted of these bolides colliding with Jupiter at an incident angle of theta = 69 degrees from the vertical and with an impact velocity of v = 61.4 km s(-1). Our simulations show the development of relatively larger, faster plumes created after impacts involving 1 km diameter bodies. Comparing simulations of the 2009 event with simulations of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9) events reveals a difference in plume development, with the higher incident angle of the 2009 impact leading to a shallower terminal depth and a smaller and slower plume. We also studied the amount of dynamical chaos present in the simulations conducted at the 2009 incident angle. Compared to the chaos of the SL9 simulations, where theta approximate to 45 degrees, we find no significant difference in chaos at the higher 2009 incident angle

NUMERICAL MODELING OF THE 2009 IMPACT EVENT ON JUPITER

We have investigated the 2009 July impact event on Jupiter using the ZEUS-MP 2 three-dimensional hydrodynamics code. We studied the impact itself and the following plume development. Eight impactors were considered: 0.5 km and 1 km porous (\rho = 1.760 g cm^{-3}) and non-porous (\rho = 2.700 g cm^{-3}) basalt impactors, and 0.5 km and 1 km porous (\rho = 0.600 g cm^{-3}) and non-porous \rho = 0.917 g cm^{-3}) ice impactors. The simulations consisted of these bolides colliding with Jupiter at an incident angle of \theta = 69 degrees from the vertical and with an impact velocity of v = 61.4 km s^{-1}. Our simulations show the development of relatively larger, faster plumes created after impacts involving 1 km diameter bodies. Comparing simulations of the 2009 event with simulations of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 events reveals a difference in plume development, with the higher incident angle of the 2009 impact leading to a shallower terminal depth and a smaller and slower plume. We also studied the amount of dynamical chaos present in the simulations conducted at the 2009 incident angle. Compared to the chaos of the SL9 simulations, where \theta is approximately 45 degrees, we find no significant difference in chaos at the higher 2009 incident angle.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure