Ephemerides of Asteroid Satellites and Estimation of Their Accuracy

Abstract— The article presents new results on motion modeling and creation of ephemeris of satellites of asteroids based on observations. In previous work on the project, ephemeris of 62 satellites were built. Since then, new satellites of asteroids have been discovered and new observations have been published. The article gives the orbital parameters of four new satellites found from observations. Satellite ephemeris updates based on new observations are reported. An important and necessary characteristic of ephemeris is their accuracy. In this paper, we show how ephemeris accuracy estimates are made, and examples of estimates are given. An important circumstance has been revealed: for a large number of satellites, the accuracy of ephemeris has degraded by now to such an extent that the ephemeris have become practically unusable. There is an urgent need for new observations of satellites of asteroids.