The Orbits of the Martian Moons

Martian satellite orbits and ephemerides

Authors:

Jacobson et al

Abstract:

We discuss the general characteristics of the orbits of the Martian satellites, Phobos and Deimos. We provide a concise review of the various descriptions of the orbits by both analytical theories and direct numerical integrations of their equations of motion. After summarizing the observational data used to determine the orbits, we discuss the results of our latest orbits obtained from a least squares fit to the data.