Question:
WILL THE GALILEO SPACECRAFT BE ABLE TO ACTUALLY SEE THE CRASH
OF SHOEMAKER-LEVY INTO JUPITER OR WILL IT BE ABLE TO SEE RESULTS SOON AFTER?
Replies:
According to an article on p. 23 of the July issue of Sky & Telescope,
Galileo *will* be in a position to "observe" the collisions directly. At least 6
of the impacts will be imaged using a special type of camera called a
charge-coupled-device (CCD) camera. For each such impact, a picture will be take n every 2 1/3 seconds for
a period of time that will include the "flash" as the fragment slams into the
Jovian atmosphere and any subsequent fireball, until the impact site rotates
into daylight. From these pictures a "movie" of these collisions can be made. Th ere will be other
sorts of measurements as well.
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