Publication Date:
2011-08-24
Description:
In 1991 and 1992, the dust detector onboard the Ulysses spacecraft detected several dust streams apparently originating from the jovian system. The timing and measured speeds of the final two dust streams are compatible with dust from comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's (SL9) disruption in 1992. Our further investigations of stream characteristics and dust acceleration mechanisms, however, shed some doubt that two of the eleven dust streams are of SL9 origin. In July 1994 when SL9 impacts Jupiter, the Galileo spacecraft will be about 3500 jovian radii away from the planet. Submicronsized dust released into, and accelerated by, the jovian magnetosphere during this event may reach Galileo and impact its dust detector between September and November 1994. We also discuss the possibility of directly sampling dust from SL9 during Galileo's orbital tour.
Keywords:
ASTROPHYSICS
Type:
Geophysical Research Letters (ISSN 0094-8276); 21; 11; p. 1035-1038
Format:
text
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