COLLISION OF THE COMET WITH JUPITER - EXPLOSION IN AN INHOMOGENEOUS ATMOSPHERE

The comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter in July of 1994. The theory of powerful explosions in an inhomogeneous atmosphere is used t o interpret the first observations of bursts of optical and IR emissio n and bursts of rf emission in the decameter range accompanying the st opping of the fragments of the comet in the Jovian atmosphere. These o bservational results may constitute the first experimental confirmatio n of this explosion theory. (C) 1994 American Institute of Physics.