The MoonsProp database provides the physical and dynamic characteristics of natural satellites: size, mass, rotational properties, magnitude and albedo, orbital elements. These quantities are extracted from various publications, or possibly web pages, all cited in a list of references. The MoonsProp database is available on the VESPA datacenter.
These data will be updated as soon as new values are published.
MoonsProp contains referenced data for the physical and dynamical properties of all confirmed natural satellites of the major planets (initialized with June 2023 values). It covers planets from Mars to Neptune (moons of dwarf planets and asteroids are not considered). Values are given where known and, where possible, referenced in peer-reviewed articles or books. Unfortunately, in some specific cases, no articles or books are available. In these cases, the values are taken from web pages or web services.
These cases are as follows:
For each natural satellite, grouped by main planet and classified by number or provisional designation, the database provides physical properties and their uncertainties where possible: masses, sizes, rotational parameters, magnitude, albedo as well as osculating orbital elements, together with corresponding bibliographic references. In exceptional cases, values are extracted from web pages or web services.
The MoonsProp database is built in the VO context using the EPN-TAP protocol, and should be updated as new publications, detections and confirmations are made.
The detailed content of the MoonsProp database is given in the following table.
| Name | Unit | Type | Description |
| Planet | - | char | - |
| all_target_name | - | char | Concatenation of code1/code2/name/designation (for ex. 517#J17#Callirrhoe#S/1999 J 1) |
| code1 | - | char | Individual satellite code: name planet and sat number (for ex. 517) |
| code2 | - | integer | Individual satellite code: number planet and sat number (for ex. J17) |
| name | - | char | Adopted designation or name from IAU (for ex. Callirrhoe) |
| provis designation | - | char | Provisional designation from IAU (for ex. S/1999 J 1) |
| designation | - | char | Final designation from IAU (for ex. Janus for S/1980_S_13 ) |
| Size | |||
| mean_radius | Km | float | Mean radius |
| mean_radius_error | Km | float | 1-sigma uncertainty |
| triaxial_a_radius | Km | float | Tri-axial ellipsoid model |
| triaxial_a_radius_uncertainty | Km | Float | 1-sigma uncertainty |
| triaxial b_radius | Km | Float | Tri-axial ellipsoid model |
| triaxial_b_radius_uncertainty | Km | Float | 1-sigma uncertainty |
| triaxial_c_radius | Km | Float | Tri-axial ellipsoid model |
| triaxial_c_radius_uncertainty | Km | Float | 1-sigma uncertainty |
| Reference_size | - | Float | Bibliographic reference for size |
| note_size | - | Char | |
| Rotation | |||
| ra_spin | degree | Float | Right ascension ICRF at epoch J2000 JD=2451545.0 TDB |
| ra_spin_sec | degree/century | Float | Secular variation per Julian century |
| dec_spin | degree | Float | - |
| dec_spin_sec | degree/century | Float | - |
| W0_spin | degree | Float | - |
| dW_spin_dt | degree/day | Float | Spin rate per day |
| Reference_spin | - | Float | Bibliographic reference for spin |
| Mass | |||
| Gm | m3.s-2 | float | Gravitational parameter |
| Reference_GM | - | Float | Bibliographic reference for Gm |
| Photometry | |||
| magnitude | - | Float | Johnson V or R visual magnitude |
| magnitude_error | - | Float | - |
| albedo | - | Float | Visual albedo |
| Reference_mag | - | Float | Bibliographic reference for magnitude |
| note_mag | - | Char | Filter, phase angle etc. or average when discovered |
| abs_magnitude | - | Float | Absolute magnitude |
| Reference_abs_mag | - | Float | Bibliographic reference for abs_magnitude |
| Orbit | |||
| semi_maj_axis | AU | Float | Semi-major axis |
| eccentricity | - | Float | eccentricity |
| inclination | degree | float | Inclination |
| arg_periastr | degree | Float | Argument of periapsis |
| long_periast | degree | Float | Longitude of periapsis |
| long_asc | degree | Float | Longitude of ascending node |
| mean_anomaly | degree | Float | Mean anomaly |
| mean_long | degree | Float | Mean longitude |
| sidereal_rotation_period | hours | Float | Sidereal rotation period |
| epoch | TDB | Float | Epoch of reference for osculating orbital elements in julian date |
| reference_orbit | - | char | Bibliographic reference for orbital parameters |
| note1_orbit | - | char | Reference plane : ecliptic, planet equator or Laplace plane |
| note2_orbit | - | char | possible large variations in eccentricity or inclination |
| Miscelaneous | |||
| discovery_year | Year | integer | Year of discovery |
| creation_date | timestamp | - | Date of creation |
| modification_date | timestamp | - | Date of possible modification |
SELECT TOP 1000 * FROM moonsprop.epn_core where(granule_gid = 'Saturn')
SELECT TOP 1000 granule_uid, semi_major_axis, sidereal_rotation_period FROM moonsprop.epn_core
SELECT TOP 1000 * FROM moonsprop.epn_core where (eccentricity > 0.5 and semi_major_axis > 0.1)
SELECT TOP 1000 granule_uid, alt_target_name, semi_major_axis, eccentricity, inclination, sidereal_rotation_period,mean_radius, magnitude, epoch, mag_description, reference_plane, orbit_description FROM moonsprop.epn_core where(granule_gid = 'Jupiter')
SELECT TOP 1000 target_name, granule_uid, round(semi_major_axis*149597870.7/1000,0), round(eccentricity,3), round(inclination,2), round(sidereal_rotation_period/24,0), round(2*mean_radius,0), round(magnitude,1) FROM moonsprop.epn_core where(granule_gid = 'Jupiter') ORDER by semi_major_axis
Credits:
Creators: W. Thuillot
Contributors: W. Thuillot, D. Hestroffer, J. Desmars, S. Erard, PADC
Publisher: Paris Astronomical Data Centre - IMCCE