Planetary coordinate system

Chart of lunar maria with lines of longitude and latitude. The prime meridian is the centre of the near side of the Moon.

A planetary coordinate system (also referred to as planetographic, planetodetic, or planetocentric)[1][2] is a generalization of the geographic, geodetic, and the geocentric coordinate systems for planets other than Earth. Similar coordinate systems are defined for other solid celestial bodies, such as in the selenographic coordinates for the Moon. The coordinate systems for almost all of the solid bodies in the Solar System were established by Merton E. Davies of the Rand Corporation, including Mercury,[3][4] Venus,[5] Mars,[6] the four Galilean moons of Jupiter,[7] and Triton, the largest moon of Neptune.[8] A planetary datum is a generalization of geodetic datums for other planetary bodies, such as the Mars datum; it requires the specification of physical reference points or surfaces with fixed coordinates, such as a specific crater for the reference meridian or the best-fitting equigeopotential as zero-level surface.

  1. ^ https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/toolkit_docs/Tutorials/pdf/individual_docs/17_frames_and_coordinate_systems.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  2. ^ "Planetocentric and planetographic coordinates".
  3. ^ Davies, M. E., "Surface Coordinates and Cartography of Mercury," Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 80, No. 17, June 10, 1975.
  4. ^ Davies, M. E., S. E. Dwornik, D. E. Gault, and R. G. Strom, NASA Atlas of Mercury, NASA Scientific and Technical Information Office, 1978.
  5. ^ Davies, M. E., T. R. Colvin, P. G. Rogers, P. G. Chodas, W. L. Sjogren, W. L. Akim, E. L. Stepanyantz, Z. P. Vlasova, and A. I. Zakharov, "The Rotation Period, Direction of the North Pole, and Geodetic Control Network of Venus," Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 97, £8, pp. 13,14 1-13,151, 1992.
  6. ^ Davies, M. E., and R. A. Berg, "Preliminary Control Net of Mars,"Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 76, No. 2, pps. 373-393, January 10, 1971.
  7. ^ Merton E. Davies, Thomas A. Hauge, et al.: Control Networks for the Galilean Satellites: November 1979 R-2532-JPL/NASA
  8. ^ Davies, M. E., P. G. Rogers, and T. R. Colvin, "A Control Network of Triton," Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 96, E l, pp. 15, 675-15, 681, 1991.