Investigation Information |
|
IDENTIFIER | urn:nasa:pds:context:investigation:mission.saturn_small_satellite_astrometry::1.1 |
NAME |
SATURN SMALL SATELLITE ASTROMETRY |
TYPE |
Mission |
DESCRIPTION |
Mission Overview ================ Observations made during the 1995-1996 Saturn Ring Plane Crossing (RPX) led to the unexpected finding that the positions of both Prometheus and Pandora varied significantly from the predictions based on the Voyager observations (BOSH&RIVKIN1996, NICHOLSONETAL1996, MCGHEEETAL2001, SYNNOTTETAL1983). A long term observing campaign was undertaken in order to extend the time line of astrometric observations. The campaign used archival HST data from 1994, previously unexamined RPX images, and a large series of targeted WFPC2 observations between 1996 and 2005. The ultimate goals were to refine the ephemerides of both satellites and if possible determine the cause or causes of the discrepancies. Sufficient observations to produce astrometrically meaningful data for nine other satellites were obtained incidentally in the Prometheus-Pandora observing campaign. Details of the project can be found in FRENCHETAL2006. |
START DATE |
1994-12-01T12:00:00.000Z |
STOP DATE |
2005-01-14T12:00:00.000Z |
REFERENCES |
Bosh, A.S. and A.S. Rivkin, Observations of Saturn's inner satellites during
the May 1995 ring-plane crossing, Science, 272, 518-521, 1996. French, R.G., C.A. McGhee, L. Dones, and J.J. Lissauer, Saturn's wayward shepherds: the peregrinations of Prometheus and Pandora, Icarus 162, 143-170, 2003. French, R.G., C.A. McGhee, M. Frey, R. Hock, S. Rounds, R. Jacobson, and A. Verbiscer, Astrometry of Saturn's Satellites from the Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2, PASP 118, 246-259, 2006. McGhee, C.A., P.D. Nicholson, R.G. French, and K.J. Hall, HST Observations of Saturnian Satellites during the 1995 Ring Plane Crossing, Icarus, 152, 282-315, 2001 Nicholson, P.D., M.R. Showalter, L. Dones, R.G. French, S.M. Larson, J.J. Lissauer, C.A. McGhee, B. Sicardy, P. Seitzer, and G.E. Danielson, Observations of Saturn's ring-plane crossing in August and November 1995, Science, 272, 509- 516, 1996 Synnott, S.P., R.J. Terrile, R.A. Jacobson, and B.A. Smith, Orbits of Saturn's F ring and its shepherding satellites, Icarus, 53, 156-158, 1983 |