Authors: Pascu D., Seidelmann P. K., Schmidt R. E., Santoro E. J., and Hershey J. L.
Year: 1987
Title: Astrometric CCD observations of Miranda - 1981-1985
Journal: Astronomical Journal
Volume: 93
Pages: 963-967
Keywords: Uranus, major, observation, data, analysis, CCD, position
Abstract: An 800 x 800 CCD was applied to the astrometry of Uranus's fifth moon, Miranda. The methods of observation, measurement, and reduction are described, and 76 x, y observations of Miranda made between 1981 and 1985 are presented. From comparisons of the observations with the latest Jet Propulsion Laboratory ephemeris of Miranda, it is shown that the CCD will yield observations with an external precision of + or - 0.10 arcsec, comparable to the best of the photographic techniques. In error analysis, a small systematic error was detected, and it is demonstrated that neither the CCD chip nor the atmosphere contributed perceptibly to it. On the contrary, there was some indication that the problem was orbital, and due, indirectly, to the systematic effect of the halo light on the photographic observations used in the orbital determination.
%F: AE(U.S. Naval Observatory, Washington, DC)
Bibliogaphic Code: 1987AJ.....93..963P
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