Collision of comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 with Jupiter: what did we see

Abstract

In July 1994, a dramatic event took place—the collision of the Shoemaker–Levy 9 comet with Jupiter. This collision has been accompanied by a great number of various effects in the atmosphere, ionosphere and magnetosphere of Jupiter. The comet impact became one of the most grandiose active experiments Nature has ever performed. Among the most interesting effects are bursts of radiation registered in a wide spectral range during the cometary fragments fall, the generation of giant gaseous plumes caused by impact, the formation of large-scale long-lived vortex structures in the Jovian atmosphere. Unexpected events were the significant brightening of the Jovian radiation belts during the cometary fragments impact, the peculiarities of polar aurorae induced by the impact, the weakening of the Io plasma torus brightness observed in the extreme UV range, etc. In the present review, the results of the comet impact with Jupiter are discussed and a unified physical model is suggested which explains consistently the basis observational data.