Astrometry and Orbits of the Inner Satellites of Neptune

Details Astrometry and Orbits of the Inner Satellites of Neptune Astrometry and Orbits of the Inner Satellites of Neptune

Sep 1999

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999dda....31.1003p&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DDA meeting #31, #10.03

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

4

Scientific paper

We have obtained 39 HST (PC2) images of Neptune, Triton and inner moons in three HST orbits: two on 3 July, one on 6 July 1997. Of the six inner satellites discovered by Voyager 2, the four outer ones were recovered, as expected, and near their ephemeris positions. The two inner satellites were too faint and close to the planet for detection. The planet and all satellites were centroided with a Gaussian model using only the unsaturated portions of the images. The bright halo near the planet was also modelled for the faint satellites. The centroiding precision for Neptune and Triton was less than 1 mas, while that for the faintest satellites, embedded in the planetary halo, as high as 15 mas. After a correction for geometric distortion was applied, the scale and orientation were calibrated for each frame using the JPL ephemeris of Triton relative to Neptune. Two results of the astrometry were; a mean scale for PC2 of 0.045542 arcsec/pix, smaller by 1 part in 1900 than that determined from our astrometry in the Uranian system, and an orientation zero point correction dependent on the filter used. In the orbital analysis, only corrections to the mean daily motions, given by Owen et al. (1991, AJ 101, 1511) for the four faint satellites, were made. Neptune was taken as the coordinate zero point, and separate solutions made in separation and position angle, as well as combined solutions. All mean motion corrections were well below the quoted mean errors of the starting values. The separation and position angle solutions were in agreement for the three faintest satellites, but were in disagreement for Proteus, despite the 6 mas mean residual after solution. The cause for this discrepancy is being investigated. The corrected mean motions, resulting from these observations, are expected to provide ephemeris predictions accurate to 100 mas throughout the next century.

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