ATMOSPHERIC GRAVITY-WAVES FROM THE IMPACT OF COMET SHOEMAKER-LEVY-9 WITH JUPITER

We study the effect of the Jovian water cloud on internal gravity wave s generated by the impact of comet SL9. Vertical structure follows Voy ager data to the 1-bar level, a moist adiabat from 1 to 5 bars, and a dry adiabat below the 5-bar level. The waves are trapped in the moist layer and propagate horizontally. Their speed is related to the vertic al integral of the Brunt-Vaisala frequency, and varies an the square r oot of the water abundance (130 m/s for solar composition). The amplit udes are large, e.g., +/-1 K at a distance of 8000 km for an energy of 10(27) ergs. The circular ripples should be detectable one or two day s after the impact in thermal infrared and visible images.