The orbit of Phoebe from Earthbased and Voyager observations

301-150 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109-8099, U.S.A.

Send offprint request to: R.A. Jacobson

Received: 17 September 1996
Accepted: 16 June 1997

Abstract

This article presents the results of a fit of a numerically integrated orbit for the Saturnian satellite Phoebe to Earthbased astrometric observations (from 1904 to 1996) and imaging data acquired by the Voyager 2 spacecraft during its encounter with Saturn. The primary results are the epoch state vector for the integration and a set of mean orbital elements which approximately represent the orbit. An assessment of the quality of the fit and the accuracy of the orbit is also provided.