Herbst, T.M., D.P. Hamilton, H. Böhnhardt and J.L. Ortiz 1995. SL-9 Impact imaging, spectroscopy and long-term monitoring from the Calar Alto Observatory. In Proceedings of the European SL-9 Workshop, R. West and H. Böhnhardt, Eds., 119-122.


We present several early results from the Calar Alto program of near infrared imaging and spectroscopy of the collision of Comet Shoemaker--Levy~9 with Jupiter. Observations and timing of seven separate impacts indicate that the precursors are ubiquitous and associated with phenomena at or near the time of atmospheric entry. The impact of the Q2 fragment was very unusual in having a precursor brighter than the main event. Strong CO emission in K~band spectra taken near maximum light of the H impact indicate temperatures above 2000~K. Finally, monitoring of the disk of Jupiter in the seven months since the collision show longitudinal spreading of the impact structures at approximately 10 m~s$^{-1}$, with very little spreading in latitude.
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