Basic orbital mechanics from simple observations of the main satellites of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune

• Published in: European journal of physics Vol. 40; no. 3; pp. 35601 - 35613
• Main Authors: Sánchez-Lavega, A, Almendros, V, Hernández-Bernal, J, Otxoa, Iker, de Ormaetxea, Asier S, Gaztelurrutia, T del Río
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IOP Publishing 01.05.2019
• Subjects: astronomy; orbital mechanichs; satelites Saturn; satellite orbits; Uranus and Neptune
• ISSN: 0143-0807; 1361-6404
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-6404/ab0bc0

We present a practice on astrodynamics based on telescopic observations of the motions of the major satellites of Saturn (Mimas, Enceladus, Thetis, Dione, Rea, Titan, Hyperion, Iapetus), Uranus (Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon) and Neptune (Triton). The practice was developed with the students of the Master in Space Science and Technology of the Basque Country University (Sánchez-Lavega et al 2014 Eur. J. Eng. Educ. 39 518-26) using a telescope of 28 cm in diameter and a video camera. The images, obtained during the years 2014-2016, were used to calculate the basic orbital parameters of the satellites, derive the planet masses and, in the case of Saturn, study of the gravitational resonance phenomena. For Triton, the main satellite of Neptune, we use its retrograde orbit to comment on its origin and long-term orbital stability. This study is a continuation and extension of previous works were we used similar techniques to analyse the orbital dynamics of Jupiter's Galilean satellites (Ordoñez-Etxeberría et al 2014 Eur. J. Phys. 35 045020; Ordoñez-Etxeberría et al 2016 Eur. J. Phys. 37 065601; Rojas and Sánchez-Lavega Eur. J. Phys. 38 065601).