Hamilton, D.P., T.M. Herbst, A. Richichi, H. Böhnhardt and
J.L. Ortiz 1995. Calar Alto observations of Shoemaker-Levy 9:
Characteristics of the H and L impacts. Geophys. Res. Let.,
22, #17, 2417-2420.
We describe data obtained at Calar Alto's 3.5-meter and 2.2-meter
telescopes during the impacts of SL9 fragments H and L with
Jupiter. Both the H and L impact lightcurves display three major
features which we call 1) the first precursor, 2) the second
precursor, and 3) the main event. The peak of the first precursor
occurs before the onset of the Galileo PPR signal for each impact. We
identify these three features with 1) the bolide entry into the jovian
atmosphere, 2) the rising impact fireball, and 3) reimpacting
ejecta. We also identify faint spots that appear near the H and L
impact sites just before the respective events and suggest that the
pre-L spot was caused by the J fragment which vanished in December
1993.
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