Orbital evolution of the distant satellites of the giant planets

We study the evolution of several distant satellite orbits. These are the orbits (including the improved ones) of the recently discovered Neptunian satellites S/2002 N1, N2, N3, N4; S/2003 N1 and the orbits of Jovian, Saturnian, and Uranian satellites with librational variations in the argument of the pericenter: S/2001 J10 (Euporie), S/2003 J20; S/2000 S5 (Kiviuq), S/2000 S6 (Ijiraq), and S/2003 U3. The study is performed using mainly an approximate numerical-analytical method. We determine the extreme eccentricities and inclinations as well as the periods of the variations in the arguments of pericenters. and longitudes of the ascending nodes on time intervals similar to10(5)-10(6) yr. We compare our results with those obtained by numerically integrating the rigorous equations of satellite motion on time intervals of the order of the circulation periods of the longitudes of the ascending nodes (10(2)-10(3) yr). (C) 2005 Pleiades Publishing, Inc.