Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T23:50:24.410Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Tidal breakup of the nucleus of Comet Shoemaker—Levy 9

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 August 2016

Zdenek Sekanina
Zdenek Sekanina*
Affiliation:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The breakup of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 is discussed both in the context of splitting as a cometary phenomenon, comparing this object with other split comets, and as an event with its own idiosyncrasies. The physical appearance of the comet is described, features diagnostic of the nature of tidal splitting are identified, and the implications for modelling the event are spelled out. Among the emphasized issues is the problem of secondary fragmentation, which documents the comet's continuing disintegration during 1992-94 and implies that in July 1992 the parent object split tidally near Jupiter into 10-12, not 21, major fragments. Also addressed are the controversies involving models of a strengthless agglomerate versus a discrete cohesive mass and estimates for the sizes of the progenitor and its fragments.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 156: The Collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Jupiter , May 1996 , pp. 55 - 80
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

References

Aggarwal, H. R. & Oberbeck, V. R. 1974 Roche limit of a solid body. Astrophys. J. 191, 577–588.Google Scholar
Asphaug, E. & Benz, W. 1994 Density of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 deduced by modelling breakup of the parent “rubble pile.” Nature 370, 120–124.Google Scholar
Asphaug, E. & Benz, W. 1996 The tidal disruption of strengthless bodies: lessons from comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. Icarus, in press.Google Scholar
Barnard, E. E. 1889 Discovery and observations of companions to comet 1889… (Brooks July 6). Astron. Nachr. 122, 267–268.Google Scholar
Barnard, E. E. 1890 Physical and micrometrical observations of the companions to comet 1889 V (Brooks). Astron. Nachr. 125, 177–196.Google Scholar
Bézard, B., Griffith, C. A., Kelly, D., Lacy, J., Greathouse, T. & Orton, G. 1995 Mid-IR high-resolution spectroscopy of the SL9 impact sites: Temperature and HCN retrievals. Poster paper presented at IAU Colloq. No. 156 The Collision of Cornet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Jupiter, Baltimore, Maryland, May 1995.Google Scholar
Borovička, J. & Spurný, P. 1995 Radiation study of two very bright terrestrial bolides. Poster paper presented at IAU Colloq. No. 156 The Collision of Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Jupiter. ST Scl.Google Scholar
Boss, A. P. 1994 Tidal disruption of periodic comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and a constraint on its mean density. Icarus 107, 422–426.Google Scholar
Chernetenko, Y. A. & Medvedev, Y. D. 1994 Estimate of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 nucleus size from position observations. Planet. Space Sci. 42, 95–96.Google Scholar
Chodas, P. W. & Yeomans, D. K. 1994 Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact times and impact geometries. Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc. 26, 1569.Google Scholar
Dobrovolskis, A. R. 1990 Tidal disruption of solid bodies. Icarus 88, 24–38.Google Scholar
Feldman, P. D., Weaver, H. A., Boice, D. C. & Stern, S. A. 1996 HST observations of Mg+ in outburst from comet D/Shoemaker-Levy 9. Icarus, in press.Google Scholar
Greenberg, J. M., Mizutani, H. & Yamamoto, T. 1995 A new derivation of the tensile strength of cometary nuclei: application to comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. Astron. Astrophys. 295, L35–L38.Google Scholar
Hammel, H. B., Beebe, R. F., Ingersoll, A. P., Orton, G. S., Mills, J. R., Simon, A. A., Chodas, P., Clarke, J. T., De Jong, E., Dowling, T. E., Harrington, J., Huber, L. F., Karkoschka, E., Santori, C. M., Toigo, A., Yeomans, D. & West, R. A. 1995 HST imaging of atmospheric phenomena created by the impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. Science 267, 1288–1296.Google Scholar
Jewitt, D., Luu, J. & Chen, J. 1993 Physical properties of split comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. Bull. Amer. Astron, Soc. 25, 1042.Google Scholar
Jewitt, D. & Trentham, N. 1994 Periodic comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (1993e). IAU Circ. No. 5999.Google Scholar
Kreutz, H. 1888 Untersuchungen über des Cometensystem 1843 I, 1880 I und 1882 II. Publ. Sternw. Kiel No. 3, pp. 1–111.Google Scholar
Lehký, M. 1994 Periodic comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (1993e). Int. Comet Q. 16, 35.Google Scholar
Lellouch, E., Paubert, G., Moreno, R., Festou, M. C., Bézard, B., Bockelée-Morvan, D., Colom, P., Crovisier, J., Encrenaz, T., Gautier, D., Marten, A., Despois, D., Strobel, D. F. & Sievers, A. 1995 Chemical and thermal response of Jupiter's atmosphere following the impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. Nature 373, 592–595.Google Scholar
Lyttleton, R. A. 1953 The Comets and Their Origin. Cambridge University.Google Scholar
Marsden, B. G. 1967 The sungrazing comet group. Astron. J. 72, 1170–1183.Google Scholar
Marsden, B. G. 1989 The sungrazing comet group. II. Astron. J. 98, 2306–2321.Google Scholar
McCrosky, R. E. & Ceplecha, Z. 1970 Fireballs and physical theory of meteors. Bull. Astron. Inst. Czech. 21, 271–296.Google Scholar
Meadows, V., Crisp, D., Orton, G., Brooke, T. & Spencer, J. 1995 AAT IRIS observations of the SL-9 impacts and initial fireball evolution. In European Shoemaker-Levy 9/Jupiter Workshop (eds. West, R. & Böhnhardt, H.), pp. 129–134. European Southern Observatory.Google Scholar
Mumma, M. J. 1995 Personal communication.Google Scholar
Noll, K. S. & Smith, T. E. 1994 Periodic comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (1993e). IAU Circ. No. 6010.Google Scholar
Renz, F. 1889 Ueber die Begleiter des Cometen 1889… (Brooks Juli 6). Astron. Nachr. 122, 413–416.Google Scholar
Rettig, T. W.`, Mumma, M. J., Tegler, S. C. & Hahn, J. 1994 Are the fragments of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 swarms of meter-sized planetesimals? Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc. 26, 862.Google Scholar
Roemer, E. 1965 Observations of comets and minor planets. Astron. J. 70, 397–402.Google Scholar
Schatzman, E. 1953 La structure et l'evolution des noyaux cometaires. Mém. 8° Soc. Roy. Sci. Liège (Sér. 4) 13 (Fasc. 1-2), 313–323.Google Scholar
Scotti, J. V. 1993 Periodic comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. Minor Planet Circ. Nos. 21988-21989.Google Scholar
Scotti, J. V. & Melosh, H. J. 1993 Estimate of the size of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 from a tidal breakup model. Nature 365, 733–735.Google Scholar
Scotti, J. V. & Metcalfe, T. S. 1995 Personal communication.Google Scholar
Sekanina, Z. 1977 Relative motions of fragments of the split comets. I. A new approach. Icarus 30, 574–594.Google Scholar
Sekanina, Z. 1982 The problem of split comets in review. In Comets (ed. Wilkening, L. L.), pp. 251–287. University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
Sekanina, Z. 1993 Disintegration phenomena expected during collision of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter. Science 262, 382–387.Google Scholar
Sekanina, Z. 1995a Nuclei of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. In European Shoemaker-Levy 9/Jupiter Workshop (ed. West, R. & Bohnhardt, H.), pp. 29–35. European Southern Observatory.Google Scholar
Sekanina, Z. 1995b Evidence on sizes and fragmentation of the nuclei of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 from Hubble Space Telescope images. Astron. Astrophys. 304, 296–316.Google Scholar
Sekanina, Z., Chodas, P. W. & Yeomans, D. K. 1994 Tidal disruption and the appearance of periodic comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. Astron. Astrophys. 289, 607–636. (Paper 1.)Google Scholar
Sekanina, Z., Chodas, P. W. & Yeomans, D. K. 1995 In preparation.Google Scholar
Sekanina, Z. & Yeomans, D. K. 1985 Orbital motion, nucleus precession, and splitting of periodic comet Brooks 2. Astron. J. 90, 2335–2352.Google Scholar
Solem, J. C. 1994 Density and size of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 deduced from a tidal breakup model. Nature 370, 349–351.Google Scholar
Solem, J. C. 1995 Cometary breakup calculations based on a gravitationally-bound agglomeration model: the density and size of Shoemaker-Levy 9. Astron. Astrophys. 302, 596–608.Google Scholar
Tancredi, G. & Lindgren, M. 1994 Searching for comets encountering Jupiter: First campaign. Icarus 107, 311–321.Google Scholar
Tancredi, G. & Lindgren, M. & Lagerkvist, C.-I. 1993 Periodic comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (1993e). IAU Circ. No. 5892.Google Scholar
Vanýsek, V. 1995 A note on the fragment size of SL-9 and debris field. In European Shoemaker-Levy 9/Jupiter Workshop (ed. West, R. &: Bohnhardt, H.), pp. 297–298. European Southern Observatory.Google Scholar
Vorontsov-Velyaminov, B. 1946 Structure and mass of cometary nuclei. Astrophys. J. 104, 226–233.Google Scholar
Weaver, H. A. 1994 Periodic comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (1993e). IAU Circ. Nos. 5947 & 5973.Google Scholar
Weaver, H. A. 1995 Personal communication.Google Scholar
Weaver, H. A., Feldman, P. D., A'Hearn, M. F., Arpigny, C., Brown, R. A., Helin, E. F., Levy, D. H., Marsden, B. G., Meech, K. J., Larson, S. M., Noll, K. S., Scotti, J. V., Sekanina, Z., Shoemaker, C. S., Shoemaker, E. M., Smith, T. E., Storrs, A. D., Yeomans, D. K. & Zellner, B. 1994a Hubble Space Telescope observations of comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 (1993e). Science 263, 787–791.Google Scholar
Weaver, H. A., A'Hearn, M. F., Arpigny, C., Boice, D. C., Feldman, P. D., Larson, S. M., Lamy, P., Levy, D. H., Marsden, B. G., Meech, K. J., Noll, K. S., Scotti, J. V., Sekanina, Z., Shoemaker, C. S., Shoemaker, E. M., Smith, T. E., Stern, S. A., Storrs, A. D., Trauger, J. T., Yeomans, D. K. & Zellner, B. 1995 The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observing campaign on comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. Science 267, 1282–1288.Google Scholar
Weiss, E. 1889 Ueber die Erscheinungen am Cometen 1889… (Brooks Juli 6). Astron. Nachr. 122, 313–316.Google Scholar
Weissman, P. 1994 The big fizzle is coming. Nature 370, 94–95.Google Scholar
West, R. A., Karkoschka, E., Friedson, A. J., Seymour, M., Baines, K. H. & Hammel, H. B. 1995 Impact debris particles in Jupiter's stratosphere. Science 267, 1296—1301.Google Scholar
West, R. M., Hook, R. N. & Hainaut, O. 1995 A morphological study of SL-9 CCD images obtained at La Silla (July 1-15, 1994). In European Shoemaker-Levy 9/Jupiter Workshop (ed. West, R. & Böhnhardt, H.), pp. 5–10. European Southern Observatory.Google Scholar
Whipple, F. L. 1950 A comet model. I. The acceleration of comet Encke. Astrophys. J. 111, 375–394.Google Scholar
Whipple, F. L. 1951 A comet model. II. Physical relations for comets and meteors. Astrophys. J. 113, 464–474.Google Scholar
Whipple, F. L. 1961 Problems of the cometary nucleus. Astron. J. 66, 375–380.Google Scholar
Whipple, F. L. 1963 On the structure of the cometary nucleus. In The Moon, Meteorites, and Comets (ed. Middlehurst, B. M. & Kuiper, G. P.), pp. 639–664. University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Yeomans, D. K. & Chodas, P. W. 1994 Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in orbit about Jupiter. Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc. 26, 1566.Google Scholar