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Comparison Between Present Representations of the Motions of the Eight Major Satellites of Saturn

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

L. Duriez
Affiliation:
Laboratoire d’Astronomie, Université de Lille Lille, France
A. Vienne
Affiliation:
Laboratoire d’Astronomie, Université de Lille Lille, France

Abstract

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We compare the two current representations (TASS and that of Harper and Taylor) of the motion of Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Hyperion and Japetus. Although both theories produce almost the same (o-c) residuals with the available observations, we show that they may give positions significantly different at dates corresponding to a gap in the distribution of these observations. In the interval 2000–2020 (corresponding to the CASSINI mission) these differences can reach 5000 km for Mimas, 8000km for Hyperion, 6 000 km for Japetus. So, to test a theory of motions it is necessary to use other criteria among which the most important ones are its dynamical consistency and its internal accuracy.

Type
Solar System Dynamics
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1997

References

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