The reference frames of Mercury after MESSENGER

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advancements in Mercury's rotational models and reference frames, integrating data from radar observations and MESSENGER, and clarifies the definitions and transformations among various Mercury reference systems.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of Mercury's rotational state models and details the different reference frames used, including their definitions and transformation formulas.

Findings

Refined Mercury rotation models based on radar and spacecraft data.

Clarified definitions of Mercury's reference frames and their interrelations.

Provided transformation expressions between different Mercury reference frames.

Abstract

We report on recent refinements and the current status for the rotational state models and the reference frame of the planet Mercury. We summarize the performed measurements of Mercury rotation based on terrestrial radar observations as well as data from the Mariner 10 and the MESSENGER missions. Further, we describe the different available definitions of reference systems for Mercury, which are realized using data obtained by instruments on board MESSENGER. In particular, we discuss the dynamical frame, the principal-axes frame, the ellipsoid frame, as well as the cartographic frame. We also describe the reference frame adopted by the MESSENGER science team for the release of their cartographic products and we provide expressions for transformations from this frame to the other reference frames.