Papers › Cladistical analysis of the Jovian and Saturnian satellite systems
Cladistical analysis of the Jovian and Saturnian satellite systems
Timothy. R. Holt, Adrian. J. Brown, David Nesvorný, Jonathan Horner, Brad Carter
The archive published only this paper's code-link row. Authors, date and abstract are from arXiv's metadata (CC0), read from the Kaggle arXiv metadata snapshot of 2026-09-12 where its title matched the archive's; the title is the archive's.
Jupiter and Saturn each have complex systems of satellites and rings. These satellites can be classified into dynamical groups, implying similar formation scenarios. Recently, a larger number of additional irregular satellites have been discovered around both gas giants that have yet to be classified. The aim of this paper is to examine the relationships between the satellites and rings of the gas giants, using an analytical technique called cladistics. Cladistics is traditionally used to examine relationships between living organisms, the `tree of life'. In this work, we perform the first cladistical study of objects in a planetary science context. Our method uses the orbital, physical and compositional characteristics of satellites to classify the objects in the Jovian and Saturnian systems. We find that the major relationships between the satellites in the two systems, such as families, as presented in previous studies, are broadly preserved. In addition, based on our analysis of the Jovian system, we identify a new retrograde irregular family, the Iocaste family, and suggest that the Phoebe family of the Saturnian system can be further divided into two subfamilies. We also propose that the Saturnian irregular families be renamed, to be consistent with the convention used in Jovian families. Using cladistics, we are also able to assign the new unclassified irregular satellites into families. Taken together, the results of this study demonstrate the potential use of the cladistical technique in the investigation of relationships between orbital bodies.
Code
Repository list and official/mentioned flags are the archive's, frozen 2025-07-28. Reachability, where shown, is from one Syntology probe window (2026-09-16 to 2026-09-18); repositories not probed show nothing. GitHub stars are not tracked.
Code Syntology ran Syntology
Not run by Syntology. Nothing on this page verifies that the listed code works.
Results from the paper archive 2025-07-28
No leaderboard rows for this paper in the archive.
Report a problem or propose a change · a person checks every report against the paper or source before anything changes; decisions are listed on /corrections