Astrometric Results for Observations of Jupiter's Galilean Satellites During Mutual Occultations and Eclipses in 2009 and 2014-2015

Abstract :

Photometric observations of satellites during their mutual occultations and eclipses are a valuable source of astrometric data for studying the motion of natural planetary satellites. Worldwide photometric observation campaigns are organized in order to observe as many phenomena as possible. All the photometric results obtained during such an observation campaign are stored in a single database, and after some time, they undergo astrometric processing. After conducting the campaign and publishing the results, some observers find unused data, which appear valuable. We have collected these photometric observations of mutual occultations and eclipses of Jupiter's Galilean satellites and processed them to utilize these valuable astrometric data. To obtain astrometric data from the photometric observations, we have applied our original method. The observations come from eight observatories worldwide. As a result, this work presents 32 new relative astrometric positions of Jupiter's Galilean satellites in 2009 and 23 new positions in 2014-2015. The astrometric accuracy of the new data in comparison with the most developed theory (O-C) is approximately 0.05''. The internal accuracy, based on estimates for random photometry errors, is 0.02''.

Publication : Solar System Research, Volume 53, Issue 6, p.436-442
DOI : 10.1134/S0038094619060017 
Bibcode : 2020SoSyR..53..436E 
Keywords : planetary satellites; observations; photometry; astrometry