Orbits and resonances of the regular moons of Neptune

• Published in: Icarus (New York, N.Y. 1962) Vol. 338; p. 113462
• Main Authors: Brozović, Marina, Showalter, Mark R., Jacobson, Robert A., French, Robert S., Lissauer, Jack J., de Pater, Imke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.03.2020
• ISSN: 0019-1035; 1090-2643
• DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2019.113462

We report integrated orbital fits for the inner regular moons of Neptune based on the most complete astrometric data set to date, with observations from Earth-based telescopes, Voyager 2, and the Hubble Space Telescope covering 1981–2016. We summarize the results in terms of state vectors, mean orbital elements, and orbital uncertainties. The estimated masses of the two innermost moons, Naiad and Thalassa, are GMNaiad = 0.0080 ± 0.0043 km3 s−2 and GMThalassa = 0.0236 ± 0.0064 km3 s−2, corresponding to densities of 0.80 ± 0.48 g cm−3 and 1.23 ± 0.43 g cm−3, respectively. Our analysis shows that Naiad and Thalassa are locked in an unusual type of orbital resonance. The resonant argument 73λ̇Thalassa−69λ̇Naiad−4Ω̇Naiad≈0 librates around 180° with an average amplitude of ~66° and a period of ~1.9 years for the nominal set of masses. This is the first fourth-order resonance discovered between the moons of the outer planets. More high precision astrometry is needed to better constrain the masses of Naiad and Thalassa, and consequently, the amplitude and the period of libration. We also report on a 13:11 near-resonance of Hippocamp and Proteus, which may lead to a mass estimate of Proteus provided that there are future observations of Hippocamp. Our fit yielded a value for Neptune's oblateness coefficient of J2 = 3409.1 ± 2.9 × 10−6. •First integrated orbits of the inner satellites of Neptune•GMs determined for Naiad and Thalassa•An inclination type resonance between Naiad and Thalassa•Near-resonance between Hippocamp and Proteus