Astrometric Observations of the Galilean Moons of Jupiter at the Pulkovo Normal Astrograph in 2016−2017

Abstract

We present the results of observations of the Galilean moons of Jupiter carried out at the Normal Astrograph of the Pulkovo Observatory in 2016−2017. We obtained 761 positions of the Galilean moons of Jupiter in the system of the Gaia DR1 catalog (ICRF, J2000.0) and 854 differential coordinates of the satellites relative to each other. The mean errors in the satellites’ normal places and the corresponding root-mean-square deviations are ε_α = 0.0020′′, ε_δ = 0.0027′′, σ_α = 0.0546′′, and σ_δ = 0.0757′′. The equatorial coordinates of the moons are compared to the motion theories of planets and satellites. On average, the (O–C) residuals in the both coordinates relative to the motion theories are less than 0.031′′. The best agreement with observations is achieved by a combination of the EPM2015 and V. Lainey-V.2.0|V1.1 motion theories, which yields the average (O–C) residuals of approximately 0.02″. Peculiarities in the behavior of the (O–C) residuals and error values in Ganymede have been noticed.