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The Encounter of P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 with the Jovian Plasma and Extended Sodium CloudThe encounter of comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter during July, 1994, provided an unprecedented opportunity to observe any potential perturbations in the Jovian plasma torus and extended sodium cloud as the comet entered the planet's atmosphere. Though the most obvious affect of the encounter was the distinctive response of the visible disk to the impact of the cometary fragments, the potential disruptions to the extended Jovian atmosphere and the restoration of the system to equilibrium also provided a test for the current interpretation of the Jovian plasma torus and sodium magneto-nebula. The observations that were performed for this grant were made by a complementary group of researchers and could not have been made if the individuals worked singly. In a sense, the exciting opportunity provided by this astronomical event also provided a mechanism to test the potential of pooling limited resources from several sources to construct a state-of-the-art spectrally resolving instrument, to acquire the necessary time and resources from institutions that maintain world-class optical telescopes, to perform the observations with the assistance of students, and to analyze the data sets.
Document ID
19980009031
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Contractor Report (CR)
Authors
Niciejewski, R. J. (NASA Headquarters Washington, DC United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
October 1, 1997
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Report/Patent Number
NAS 1.26:206084
NASA/CR-96-206084
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-2649
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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