Abstract
The Cassini spacecraft collects high resolution images of the Saturnian satellites and reveals the surface of these new worlds. Tiscareno et al. succeeded to determine the Epimetheus rotation from the Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem data, initiating studies on the rotation of Epimetheus and its companion Janus (Tiscareno et al., Icarus 204:254–261, 2009; Noyelles, Icarus 207:887–902, 2010; Robutel et al., Icarus 211:758–769, 2011). Especially, Epimetheus is characterized by its horseshoe shape orbit and the presence of the swap has to be introduced explicitly into rotational models. During its journey in the Saturnian system, Cassini spacecraft accumulates the observational data of the other satellites and it will be possible to determine the rotational parameters of several of them. To prepare these future observations, we built rotational models of the coorbital (also called Trojan) satellites Telesto, Calypso, Helene, and Polydeuces, in addition to Janus and Epimetheus. Indeed, Telesto and Calypso orbit around the L 4 and L 5 Lagrange points of Saturn-Tethys while Helene and Polydeuces are coorbital of Dione. The goal of this study is to understand how the departure from the Keplerian motion induced by the perturbations of the coorbital body, influences the rotation of these satellites. To this aim, we introduce explicitly the perturbation in the rotational equations by using the formalism developed by Érdi (Celest Mech 15:367–383, 1977) to represent the coorbital motions, and so we describe the rotational motion of the coorbitals, Janus and Epimetheus included, in compact form.
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Robutel, P., Rambaux, N. & El Moutamid, M. Influence of the coorbital resonance on the rotation of the Trojan satellites of Saturn. Celest Mech Dyn Astr 113, 1–22 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10569-012-9406-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10569-012-9406-2