HIGH-TEMPERATURE CHEMISTRY IN THE FIREBALLS FORMED BY THE IMPACTS OF COMET P SHOEMAKER-LEVY-9 IN JUPITER/

High temperature chemistry in the fireballs created by the impacts of Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 in Jupiter has been studied using thermochemi cal models of the impacts. Explosions of the fragments at different le vels in the jovian atmosphere ranging from above the clouds of NH3(s) to below the clouds of H2O(s) have been considered. The chemical compo sition of the expanding fireballs is studied, allowing a retrieval of the distribution of oxygen, carbonaceous, sulfur, nitrogen, and phosph orus compounds following the impacts. As a result, a list of the most abundant compounds is derived, which is found to correspond to the com pounds observed after SL9 impacts. In particular, it is found that the production of CS by chemical reactions in the fireballs can be compar able to the production of CS2. The predictions of CO/H2O, CS/CS2, and other abundance ratios, which can be derived from the models, may help in the determination of the average depth of the impacts. (C) 1997 Ac ademic Press