Orbits of new outer planetary satellites based on observations

• Published in: Solar system research 2005-03, Vol.39 (2), p.112-123
• Main Authors: Emel'yanov, N V, Kanter, A A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Astrophysics; Orbits; Physics
• ISSN: 0038-0946; 1608-3423
• DOI: 10.1007/s11208-005-0027-0

More than 70 new distant satellites of major planets have been discovered over the past five years. Until recently, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the USA was the only institution that modeled the motion of these satellites based on observational data and computed their ephemerides. New independent computations are needed to ensure the reliability and to assess the accuracy of satellite ephemerides. In this paper, the results of our determination of orbital parameters for 73 new distant satellites of major planets based on all available observations are reported and the adopted model of perturbing forces acting on a satellite is described. The satellite motions are computed via numerical integration. A special program-an ephemeris server-is used to compute the ephemerides of satellites, which are freely available to any user on the Internet at http://lnfm1.sai.msu.ru/neb/nss/index.htm. The server offers ample choice in terms of the form and composition of the ephemerides produced. The paper gives examples of deviations of the theory from observations and comparisons of our results with JPL ephemerides. Standard deviations of observational results from the theory are equal to 0.3-0.5 for most of the satellites. A comparison of our models of the motion of satellites with those developed at JPL shows that deviations in topocentric coordinates do not exceed 0.01 over a six-year interval.