NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF THE SHOEMAKER-LEVY-9 IMPACT PLUMES AND CLOUDS - A PROGRESS REPORT

Preliminary 2D/3D numerical simulations were carried out for the penet ration of 1-km bodies in the Jovian atmosphere and the subsequent rise and collapse of the erupted plumes. A body that crushed at a stagnati on point pressure of 5 kbar produced a plume that rose to 800 km. Evol ution of the shape of the calculated plume corresponds rather well to the plumes observed by HST. A crescent-shaped lobe centered on the ''b ackfire'' azimuth was produced by lateral flow during plume collapse. The plumes observed on Jupiter rose about 4 times higher, and their ri se and fall times were about twice those in this calculation. Plume he ight is a sensitive function of the distribution of energy along the e ntry path; a very low-strength body will disintegrate higher along the penetration path and will produce a higher plume.