Dynamical and Observational Constraints on Satellites in the Inner Pluto-Charon System
✍ Scribed by S.Alan Stern; Joel William Parker; Martin J. Duncan; J.Clark Snowdall Jr.; Harold F. Levison
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1994
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 632 KB
- Volume
- 108
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0019-1035
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✦ Synopsis
It is not known if Pluto has other satellites besides its massive partner Charon. In the past, searches for additional satellites in the Pluto-Charon system have extended from the solar-tidal stability boundary ( (\approx 90) arcsec from Pluto) inward to about 1 arcsec from Pluto: Here we further explore the inner (i.e., (<10) arcsec) region of the Pluto-Charon system to determine where additional satellites might lie. In particular, we report on (i) dynamical simulations to delineate the region where unstable orbits lie around Charon, (ii) dynamical simulations which use the low orbital eccentricity of Charon to constrain the mass of any third body near Pluto, and (iii) analysis of HST archival images to search for satellites in the inner Pluto-Charon system. Although no objects were found, significant new constraints on bodies orbiting in the inner Pluto-Charon system were obtained. O 1994 Academic Press, Inc.