1. APPROX -mutual approximations between the Galilean moons: the 2016-2018 observational campaign
- Author
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R. Vieira-Martins, G. Borderes-Motta, B. C. B. Camargo, T. de Santana, J. O. Miranda, Marcelo Assafin, D. I. Machado, G. Benedetti-Rossi, T. Moura, A. Crispim, M. Malacarne, V. Robert, Othon C. Winter, T. Bassallo, T. A. R. Yamashita, Valéry Lainey, Rafael Sfair, S. Santos-Filho, A. Dias-Oliveira, L. A. G. Boldrin, B. E. Morgado, Felipe Braga-Ribas, Julio Camargo, F. K. Ribeiro, L. L. Trabuco, A. R. Gomes-Júnior, Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Ephémérides (IMCCE), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Lille-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Observatorio Nacional [Rio de Janeiro], Observatório do Valongo/UFRJ [Rio de Janeiro], Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Observatório Nacional/MCT, Institut Polytechnique des Sciences Avancées (IPSA), Centro Algoritmi, University of Minho, Guimarães, Synchrotron SOLEIL (SSOLEIL), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Iwate University, University of Minho [Braga], Observatório Nacional/MCTIC, Laboratório Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia - LIneA, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná (Unioeste), Polo Astronômico Casimiro Montenegro Filho/FPTI-BR, Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES), Federal University of Technology - Paraná (UTFPR/DAFIS), Institut Polytechnique des Sciences Avancées IPSA, Univ. Lille 1, Escola SESC de Ensino Médio, and California Institute of Technology
- Subjects
individual: europa [Planets and satellites] ,media_common.quotation_subject ,individual: ganymede [Planets and satellites] ,Planets ,FOS: Physical sciences ,Ephemeris ,01 natural sciences ,Jovian ,law.invention ,Telescope ,Jupiter ,symbols.namesake ,law ,0103 physical sciences ,10. No inequality ,data analysis [Methods] ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics ,media_common ,Physics ,Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) ,[PHYS]Physics [physics] ,010308 nuclear & particles physics ,Astronomy ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,Astrometry ,individual: callisto [Planets and satellites] ,Galilean moons ,individual: io [Satellites] ,Space and Planetary Science ,Sky ,symbols ,Natural satellite ,Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics ,[PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph] ,Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics - Abstract
The technique of mutual approximations accurately gives the central instant at the maximum apparent approximation of two moving natural satellites in the sky plane. This can be used in ephemeris fitting to infer the relative positions between satellites with high precision. Only the mutual phenomena -- occultations and eclipses -- may achieve better results. However, mutual phenomena only occur every six years in the case of Jupiter. Mutual approximations do not have this restriction and can be observed at any time along the year as long as the satellites are visible. In this work, we present 104 central instants determined from the observations of 66 mutual approximations between the Galilean moons carried out at different sites in Brazil and France during the period 2016--2018. For 28 events we have at least two independent observations. All telescopes were equipped with a narrow-band filter centred at 889 nm with a width of 15 nm to eliminate the scattered light from Jupiter. The telescope apertures ranged between 25--120 cm. For comparison, the precision of the positions obtained with classical CCD astrometry is about 100 mas, for mutual phenomena it can achieve 10 mas or less and the average internal precision obtained with mutual approximations was 11.3 mas. This new kind of simple, yet accurate observations can significantly improve the orbits and ephemeris of Galilean satellites and thus be very useful for the planning of future space missions aiming at the Jovian system., Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures
- Published
- 2019
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