Fragmentation modelling of the August 2019 impact on Jupiter
Abstract
On 7th August 2019, an impact flash lasting 1s was observed on Jupiter. The video of this event was analysed to obtain the lightcurve and determine the energy release and initial mass. We find that the impactor released a total energy of 96-151 kilotons of TNT, corresponding to an initial mass between 190-260 metric tonnes with a diameter between 4-10m. We developed a fragmentation model to simulate the atmospheric breakup of the object and reproduce the lightcurve. We model three different materials: cometary, stony and metallic at speeds of 60, 65 and 70 km/s to determine the material makeup of the impacting object. The slower cases are best fit by a strong, metallic object while the faster cases require a weaker material.
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