OBSERVATIONS OF JUPITER SYNCHROTRON-RADIATION AT 18 CM DURING THE COMET SHOEMAKER-LEVY 9 IMPACTS/

The results of observations of Jupiter's synchrotron radiation during the period surrounding the impacts of comet Shoemaker-Levy/9 are repor ted. The observations were made at the Naval Research Laboratory's Mar yland Point Observatory 85 foot radio antenna operating at 1665 MHz (1 8 cm). The data indicate that an increase in the intensity of the sync hrotron emission of 23% took place over the full duration of the impac t period. The increase was accompanied by two characteristic changes i n the beaming curve: a flattening and the creation of brightness tempe rature variations on hourly timescales. We interpret the latter as lon gitudinal variations in the beaming curve which suggests a localized m echanism resulting in a redistribution of the radiating electrons in t he Jovian radiation belts.