Lunar occultation of Saturn. III - How big is Iapetus

Details Lunar occultation of Saturn. III - How big is Iapetus Lunar occultation of Saturn. III - How big is Iapetus

Feb 1978

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1978icar...33..301v&link_type=abstract

Icarus, vol. 33, Feb. 1978, p. 301-310.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

3

Astrometry, Iapetus, Light Curve, Lunar Occultation, Size Determination, Albedo, Astronomical Models, Brightness, Limb Darkening, Reflectance, Saturn (Planet), Radius, Surface, Moon, Occultations, Albedo, Iapetus, Orbits, Limbs, Saturn, Brightness, Light Curve

Scientific paper

The orbital light curve of Iapetus is analyzed, and the bright material on the trailing face of the satellite is found to have an effective limb-darkening parameter of 0.62 (+0.10, -0.12). This result is combined with observations of a lunar occultation of Iapetus to derive a radius of 718 (+87, -78) km for the satellite. The specific patchy albedo model of Morrison et al. (1975) is shown to fit the observed orbital light curve precisely and to yield an occultation radius of 724 + or - 60 km. It is noted that the values determined for the limb-darkening parameter and for the normal reflectance (in V) of the material at the center of the bright face are consistent with a partial water-frost cover on the bright side of Iapetus. It is concluded that if the albedo model of Morrison et al. reliably represents the surface of Iapetus, the radius of that satellite is 724 + or - 60 km, which is consistent with the radiometric radius of 835 (+50, -75) km derived by Morrison et al. (1975).

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