PHENOMENA OF THE SATELLITES OF SATURN

The satellites of Saturn, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Iapetus and Hyperion, present phenomena similar to those of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter. Periodically we can observe eclipses, transits, occultations and transits of umbra of these satellites.

Except Iapetus, the satellites of Saturn have nearly coplanar and equatorial orbital planes. During the period of time when we see the rings of Saturn by their edge, the satellites may cross the umbra cone and the visibility cone of the planet. This configuration exists twice along the orbit of Saturn, therefore every 15 years phenomena of these satellites occur. The last period of phenomena spanned from 1992 to 1999.

During their orbital revolution, these satellites go through the umbra cone of Jupiter, we then observe eclipses (EC); they may be hidden by the planet, we then observe occultations (OC); their own umbra may be projected on Jupiter, we then observe umbra transits (SH); the satellites may pass in front of the planet, we then observe transits (TR).

These pages give the annual predictions of the dates of beginning and end of all the phenomena, monthly chronological ordered. The dates of the beginning or of the end correspond to the time when the center of the satellite is on the umbra cone (for an eclipse and an umbra) or when it is on the visibility cone (for an occultation or a transit). For the eclipses this date corresponds also to the mid event when the light flux is reduced by half, for the occultations and transits it corresponds to the bissection of the satellite, for the umbra transits it corresponds to the bissection of the umbra.

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