The Orbits of Jupiter’s Irregular Satellites
- 9 March 2017
- journal article
- Published by American Astronomical Society in The Astronomical Journal
- Vol. 153 (4), 147
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/aa5e4d
Abstract
We report on the improved ephemerides for the irregular Jovian satellites. We used a combination of numerically integrated equations of motion and a weighted least-squares algorithm to fit the astrometric measurements. The orbital fits for 59 satellites are summarized in terms of state vectors, post-fit residuals, and mean orbital elements. The current data set appears to be sensitive to the mass of Himalia, which is constrained to the range of GM = 0.13–0.28 km3 s−2. Here, GM is the product of the Newtonian constant of gravitation, G and the body's mass, M. Our analysis of the orbital uncertainties indicates that 11 out of 59 satellites are lost owing to short data arcs. The lost satellites hold provisional International Astronomical Union (IAU) designations and will likely need to be rediscovered.This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
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