Colors of Irregular Satellites of Saturn with DECam

TL;DR

This study presents new color measurements for 21 Saturn irregular satellites, including four previously unreported, using a novel detection algorithm that enhances faint source identification in crowded, noisy fields.

Contribution

Introduces a novel processing algorithm for detecting faint satellites and reports the highest number of Saturn irregular satellites observed in a single survey.

Findings

New color data for 21 satellites, including 4 new reports

Colors consistent with other irregular satellites, lacking ultra red objects

Supports the distinction between irregular satellites and trans-Neptunian objects

Abstract

We report g-r and r-i new colors for 21 Saturn Irregular Satellites, among them, 4 previously unreported. This is the highest number of Saturn Irregular satellites reported in a single survey. These satellites were measured by "stacking" their observations to increase their signal without trailing. This work describes a novel processing algorithm that enables the detection of faint sources under significant background noise and in front of a severely crowded field. Our survey shows these new color measurements of Saturn Irregular Satellites are consistent with other Irregular Satellites populations as found in previous works and reinforcing the observation that the lack of ultra red objects among the irregular satellites is a real feature that separates them from the trans-Neptunian objects (their posited source population).