Detection of a bolide in Jupiter's atmosphere with Juno UVS

TL;DR

This paper reports the detection of a bolide in Jupiter's atmosphere using Juno UVS data, estimating impactor size, energy, and impact flux rate based on observed transient emissions.

Contribution

It presents the first direct detection of a bolide in Jupiter's atmosphere and estimates impact rates from Juno UVS observations.

Findings

Detected a transient bright emission consistent with a bolide

Estimated impactor mass between 250-5000 kg

Calculated an impact flux rate of 24,000 per year

Abstract

The UVS instrument on the Juno mission recorded transient bright emission from a point source in Jupiter's atmosphere. The spectrum shows that the emission is consistent with a 9600-K blackbody located 225 km above the 1-bar level and the duration of the emission was between 17 ms and 150 s. These characteristics are consistent with a bolide in Jupiter's atmosphere. Based on the energy emitted, we estimate that the impactor had a mass of 250-5000 kg, which corresponds to a diameter of 1-4 m. By considering all observations made with Juno UVS over the first 27 perijoves of the mission, we estimate an impact flux rate of 24,000 per year for impactors with masses greater than 250-5000 kg.