Influence of the coorbital resonance on the rotation of the Trojan satellites of Saturn

Details Influence of the coorbital resonance on the rotation of the Trojan satellites of Saturn Influence of the coorbital resonance on the rotation of the Trojan satellites of Saturn

2011-11-04

arxiv.org/abs/1111.1076v2

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

Scientific paper

The Cassini spacecraft collects high resolution images of the saturnian satellites and reveals the surface of these new worlds. The shape and rotation of the satellites can be determined from the Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem data, employing limb coordinates and stereogrammetric control points. This is the case for Epimetheus (Tiscareno et al. 2009) that opens elaboration of new rotational models (Tiscareno et al. 2009; Noyelles 2010; Robutel et al. 2011). Especially, Epimetheus is characterized by its horseshoe shape orbit and the presence of the swap is essential to introduce explicitly into rotational models. During its journey in the saturnian system, Cassini spacecraft accumulates the observational data of the other satellites and it will be possible to determine the rotational parameters of several of them. To prepare these future observations, we built rotational models of the coorbital (also called Trojan) satellites Telesto, Calypso, Helene, and Polydeuces, in addition to Janus and Epimetheus. Indeed, Telesto and Calypso orbit around the L_4 and L_5 Lagrange points of Saturn-Tethys while Helene and Polydeuces are coorbital of Dione. The goal of this study is to understand how the departure from the Keplerian motion induced by the perturbations of the coorbital body, influences the rotation of these satellites. To this aim, we introduce explicitly the perturbation in the rotational equations by using the formalism developed by Erdi (1977) to represent the coorbital motions, and so we describe the rotational motion of the coorbitals, Janus and Epimetheus included, in compact form.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Influence of the coorbital resonance on the rotation of the Trojan satellites of Saturn does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Influence of the coorbital resonance on the rotation of the Trojan satellites of Saturn, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Influence of the coorbital resonance on the rotation of the Trojan satellites of Saturn will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-100742