Photometric and astrometric analysis of a mutual event between the Uranian satellites Miranda and Oberon

Birlan, M.; Nedelcu, D. A.; Lainey, V.; Arlot, J.-E.; Binzel, R. P.; Bus, S. J.; Rayner, J.; Thuillot, W.; Vaduvescu, O.; Colas, F.
Bibliographical reference

Astronomische Nachrichten, Vol.329, Issue 6, p.567-572

Advertised on:
7
2008
Number of authors
10
IAC number of authors
0
Citations
5
Refereed citations
4
Description
Observations of the predicted occultation between the satellites Miranda and Oberon were performed on 2007 July 30. Data analysis reveals that the predicted magnitude drop for this phenomenon was overestimated and we establish an upper limit of 0fm05 for the phenomenon, perhaps due to a non-lambertian limb scattering. The new astrometry obtained from this run is in good agreement with the LA06 numerical model and these new data will improve the dynamical models of the Uranus system. The paper concludes with an uncertainty analysis on the parameters for the event, determined by the uncertainty of the magnitude drop of about 0.04 mag, and the difficulty to observe mutual phenomena between satellites in the Uranian system.