Astrometric reduction of Cassini ISS images of the Saturnian satellites Mimas and Enceladus

R. Tajeddine (1) , N. J. Cooper (1) , V. Lainey (1) , S. Charnoz , C. D. Murray

1 IMCCE - Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Ephémérides

Aims. We provide astrometric observations of two of Saturn’s main satellites, Mimas and Enceladus, using high resolution Cassini ISS Narrow Angle Camera images.Methods. We developed a simplified astrometric reduction model for Cassini ISS images as an alternative to the one proposed by the Jet Propulsion Labratory (JPL). The particular advantage of the new model is that it is easily invertible, with only marginal loss in accuracy. We also describe our new limb detection and fitting technique.Results. We provide a total of 1790 Cassini-centred astrometric observations of Mimas and Enceladus, in right ascension (α) and declination (δ) in the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF). Mean residuals compared to JPL ephemerides SAT317 and SAT351 of about one kilometre for Mimas and few hundreds of metres for Enceladus were obtained, in αcosδ and δ, with a standard deviation of a few kilometres for both satellites. A frequency analysis of the residuals revealed some periodic variability in the right ascension for Mimas. An additional analysis of Mimas’ mean longitude suggests that some short-period terms are missing in the TASS orbital model.

Mots clés: planets and satellites: individual: Mimas; planets and satellites: individual: Enceladus; methods: observational; astrometry

Domaines: Astrophysique [astro-ph]; Physique [physics]

R. Tajeddine, N. J. Cooper, V. Lainey, S. Charnoz, C. D. Murray. Astrometric reduction of Cassini ISS images of the Saturnian satellites Mimas and Enceladus. Astronomy and Astrophysics - A&A, 2013, 551, pp.A129. ⟨10.1051/0004-6361/201220831⟩. ⟨hal-01094459⟩