Explanipedia

Deep learning–based detection and classification of small bright sources on ISS images from the Cassini mission and application to Saturn’s outer magnetosphere Open

G. Quaglia, Guillaume Tochon, V. Lainey, Du Toit Strauss · 2025

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence, particularly in deep neural networks, have opened new horizons for space exploration, especially in the field of astrometry. In this study, we address the large-scale categorization of bright…

Quantification of Tides in Giant Planets from Observations Open

V. Lainey, Marco Zannoni, Vincent Robert, T. Guillot · 2025

Quantifying tidal effects on giant planets has recently made significant advances, thanks in particular to the Cassini space probe. During its thirteen-year orbit around Saturn, numerous measurements from different instruments made it poss…

Re-visiting determination of Saturn-Titan tidal interaction parameters using the open-source Tudat software. Open

Jonas Hener, Dominic Dirkx, Marie Fayolle, Luigi Gisolfi, Valerio Filice , et al. · 2025

[Introduction] Between 2006 and 2016, Cassini collected high-precision Doppler measurements during ten of its Titan fly-bys. These data allowed the determination of Titan’s gravity field up to degree and order 5 [1, 2] and its tidal Love n…

Titan's Orbital Expansion: A Combined Analysis of Cassini Radio Science Normal Points and Astrometry Open

Andrea Magnanini, V. Lainey, Luis Gomez Casajus, Marco Zannoni, Paolo Tortora · 2025

The rapid outward migration of Titan presents a challenge to classical tidal theories, with recent analyses yielding conflicting results regarding its rate and the underlying mechanisms within Saturn.Lainey et al. (2020) presented evidence…

Tidal dissipation in Uranus from high accuracy data Open

V. Lainey · 2025

Tidal dissipation in Uranus is a key factor in understanding this system, both in terms of the planet's internal structure and the orbital evolution of its moons. Observation of the moons' orbital motion remains so far the only way to acce…

A deep learning based method for the detection and classification of bright sources on Cassini ISS images Open

G. Quaglia, V. Lainey, Guillaume Tochon, Du Toit Strauss · 2025

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have opened new horizons for space exploration, especially in astrometry. In this work, we developed a deep learning-based algorithm to detect and classify bright sources—namely stars, sa…

Towards a consistent thermal-orbital model for the Galilean satellites Open

Marie Fayolle, V. Lainey, G. Tobie · 2025

In the coming decade, the JUICE and Europa Clipper spacecraft will both visit Jupiter’s Galilean satellites, a joint exploration in great part motivated by the presence of subsurface oceans on Europa, Ganymede, and possibly Callisto. A key…

Hunting for Sub-Moons: A Map of Stability in the Jovian and Kronian Systems Open

Ryan Dahoumane, V. Lainey, Kévin Baillié · 2025

The existence or inexistence of subsatellites (satellites of satellites) in the Solar System has never been demonstrated. Kollmeier and Raymond (2019) showed from an analytical approach exclusively based on tides that Jupiter and Saturn co…

Origin of Phobos and Deimos : Plausibility of a Fragmentation Scenario Open

Ryan Dahoumane, Kévin Baillié, V. Lainey · 2025

The origin of Phobos and Deimos remains uncertain. Over the years, several hypotheses have emerged: an impact between Mars and a planetesimal (Craddock (2011)), accretion from a debris disc ( Hesselbrock and Minton (2017)) or an asteroid c…

MARSIS data as a New Constraint for Phobos’ orbit Open

Alain Hèrique, Léopold Desage, V. Lainey, W. Kofman, A. Cicchetti , et al. · 2025

MARSIS radar onboard MEX did numerous observations of Phobos the past 20 years, trying to highlight geological structures in the Phobos subsurface. Up to now, these measurements never allowed us to identify subsurface features while the on…

Origin of Phobos and Deimos: Orbital Evolution Shortly after Formation from a Potential Dislocation Open

Ryan Dahoumane, Kévin Baillié, V. Lainey · 2025

This paper deals with the formation and evolution of Mars’ moons, Phobos and Deimos, assuming the dislocation of a larger progenitor as the origin of these moons. The study by R. Hyodo et al. argues that under somewhat simplistic modeling,…

Investigations of the Moon Phobos by Mars Express and Implications Towards Its Origin Open

M. Pätzold, Tom Andert, Alejandro Cardesín‐Moinelo, A. Cicchetti, T. Duxbury , et al. · 2025

Mars Express has opened a new chapter in the exploration of Phobos, thanks to its elliptical orbit that allows for regular flybys, sometimes as close as 50 km. Initially designed for studying Mars’ surface and atmosphere, its instruments h…

The JANUS (Jovis Amorum ac Natorum Undique Scrutator) VIS-NIR Multi-Band Imager for the JUICE Mission Open

P. Palumbo, T. Roatsch, L. M. Lara, J. M. Castro, Vincenzo Della Corte , et al. · 2025

The Ganymede Laser Altimeter (GALA) on the Jupiter Icy moons Explorer (JUICE) Mission Open

Hauke Hußmann, Kay Lingenauber, Alexander Stark, Keigo Enya, N. Thomas , et al. · 2025

A Centroiding Algorithm for Point-source Trails Open

L. J. Wu, Qingfeng Zhang, V. Lainey, Nick Cooper, Nicolas Rambaux , et al. · 2025

Astrometric measurements are significantly challenged by the relative motion between the point source and the telescope, primarily due to the difficulty in accurately determining the position of the point source at the mid-exposure moment.…

NAROO program: Analysis of USNO Galilean observations 1967–1998 Open

Vincent Robert, D. Pascu, V. Lainey, J. E. Arlot · 2024

International audience

The Mysterious Interior of Uranus: Final Report of the 2023 KISS Study Open

Mark Hofstadter, Ravit Helled, D. J. Stevenson, Bethany Ehlmann, Mandy Bethkenhagen , et al. · 2024

Determining the internal structure of Uranus is a key objective for planetary science. Knowledge of Uranus’s bulk composition and the distribution of elements is crucial to understanding its origin and evolutionary path. In addition, Uranu…

Geophysical Characterization of the Interiors of Ganymede, Callisto and Europa by ESA’s JUpiter ICy moons Explorer Open

Tim Van Hoolst, G. Tobie, C. Vallat, N. Altobelli, Lorenzo Bruzzone , et al. · 2024

Artificial intelligence at the service of space astrometry: a new way to explore the solar system Open

G. Quaglia, V. Lainey, Guillaume Tochon · 2024

Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have opened new horizons for space exploration, particularly in the domain of astrometry. This research investigates the integration of AI techniques, specifically deep neural networks, with spa…

Analysis of photocentre offset from Gaia astrometry on selected asteroids and planetary satellites Open

Ziyu Liu, P. Bartczak, Daniel Hestroffer, Dagmara Oszkiewicz, J. Desmars , et al. · 2024

The Gaia space mission provides highly precise astrometric data about 160,000 solar system objects. Because the object is extended and Gaia observes at a non-zero solar phase angle, the measurement is subject to a photocentre-barycen…

From Mars' Moons Formation to Submoons Hypothesis Open

Ryan Dahoumane, V. Lainey, Kévin Baillié · 2024

Our study focuses on the formation and evolution scenarios of the Solar system small satellites, utilizing a N-body simulation code based on the Gauss-Radau integrator (Everhart (1985)) with a particular emphasis on collision detection. We…

Latest astrometric results for the Saturnian system Open

V. Lainey, Nicolas Rambaux, G. Tobie, Nick Cooper, Qingfeng Zhang , et al. · 2024

During the thirteen years spent in orbit around Saturn before its final plunge, the Cassini probe provided more than ten thousand astrometric observations of moons. Such a large amount of precise data has allowed us to search for extremely…

Contribution of PRIDE VLBI products to the joint JUICE-Europa Clipper moons’ ephemerides solution Open

Marie Fayolle, Dominic Dirkx, Giuseppe Cimò, Leonid Gurvits, V. Lainey , et al. · 2024

In the coming decade, JUICE and Europa Clipper radio-science will yield the most accurate estimation to date of the Galilean moons’ physical parameters and ephemerides. JUICE's PRIDE (Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiment) …

Joint analysis of JUICE and Europa Clipper tracking data to study the Jovian system ephemerides and dissipative parameters Open

Andrea Magnanini, Marco Zannoni, Luis Gomez Casajus, Paolo Tortora, V. Lainey , et al. · 2024

Context . Jupiter and its moons form a complex dynamical system that includes several coupling dynamics at different frequencies. In particular the Laplace resonance is fundamental to maintaining the energy dissipation that sustain Io’s vo…

MARSIS data as a new constraint for the orbit of Phobos Open

Léopold Desage, Alain Hèrique, V. Lainey, W. Kofman, A. Cicchetti , et al. · 2024

Context. The orbit of Phobos is currently known with a 1 σ precision of 300 m, mostly directed along its track. Most previous determinations were made with the help of the Super-Resolution Channel (SRC) channel of the HRSC camera on board …

Tidal frequency dependence of the Saturnian <i>k</i><sub>2</sub> Love number Open

V. Lainey, Janosz W. Dewberry, Jim Fuller, N. J. Cooper, Nicolas Rambaux , et al. · 2024

Context. Love numbers describe the fluid and elastic response of a body to the tidal force of another massive object. By quantifying these numbers, we can more accurately model the interiors of the celestial objects concerned. Aims. We det…

MARSIS data as a New Constraint for Phobos’ orbit  Open

Léopold Desage, Alain Hèrique, V. Lainey, W. Kofman, A. Cicchetti , et al. · 2024

Phobos’ orbit is currently known down to a precision of 300m, mostly directed along its track. It has mainly been determined with imagery, and more recently with the Super Resolution Channel of the HRSC camera onboard Mars Express (M…

A recently formed ocean inside Saturn’s moon Mimas Open

V. Lainey, Nicolas Rambaux, G. Tobie, N. J. Cooper, Qingfeng Zhang , et al. · 2024

Moons potentially harbouring a global ocean are tending to become relatively common objects in the Solar System¹. The presence of these long-lived global oceans is generally betrayed by surface modification owing to internal dyn…

Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiment (PRIDE) of the JUICE Mission Open

Leonid Gurvits, Giuseppe Cimò, Dominic Dirkx, Vidhya Pallichadath, Alex Akins , et al. · 2023

Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiment (PRIDE) of the JUICE mission Open

Leonid Gurvits, Giuseppe Cimò, Dominic Dirkx, Vidhya Pallichadath, Alex Akins , et al. · 2023

Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiment (PRIDE) is a multi-purpose experimental technique aimed at enhancing the science return of planetary missions. The technique exploits the science payload and spacecraft service systems …

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