The representation of the force functions of the Earth's and Moon's gravitation in ellipsoidal coordinates

This paper derives asymptotic expansions of ellipsoidal coordinates in Cartesian coordinates and an expansion in spherical harmonics of the dominant term for the solution of Laplace's equation corresponding to the gravitational force function for a two-dimensional finite body.On comparing the expansion of the dominant term derived here with known expansions of the force functions of the Earth's and Moon's gravitation the author obtains values for the semimajor axes and eccentricities of the singular ellipses of these bodies in terms of the second degree harmonic coefficientsc ₂₀ andc ₂₂.     

The elimination of short-periodic terms in a Uranus-Neptune general planetary theory by von Zeipel's method

We eliminate by the method of von Zeipel the short-period terms in a first order-with respect to planetary masses—general planetary Uranus-Neptune theory. We exclude in the expansion terms of eccentricities and sines of inclinations higher than the third power.Our variables are the Poincaré canonical variables. We use the Jacobi-Radau set of origins, and we refer the planes of the osculating ellipses to a common fixed plane, the longitudes to a common origin. The short-periodic terms arising from the indirect and principal parts of the disturbing functions, are eliminated separately. The Fourier series of the principal part of the disturbing function, is reduced to the sum of only the first three terms.     

The regular motion of an axisymmetrical satellite in the field of a triaxial body

This paper investigates the regular motions of an axisymmetrical satellite in the field of Newton's attraction of a triaxial body. Both the orbital and the self rotational motions of the two bodies are taken into consideration. The exact solutions are discussed using Poincaré's method of small parameter. In the decomposition of the force function all the harmonic terms up to the third order are taken into account.The results show the existence of eight solutions. The stability of the new group of solutions is discussed using two methods to get the necessary and sufficient conditions required for the stability of these motions.     

Expansion of the Hamiltonian for the planetary problem into a Poisson series in the heliocentric reference frame

An expansion of the Hamiltonian for the N-planet problem into a Poisson series using a system of modified (complex) Poincare´ canonical elements in the heliocentric coordinate system is constructed. The Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms are used. The first terms in the expansions of the principal and complementary parts of the disturbing function are presented. Estimates of the number of terms in the presented expansions have been obtained through numerical experiments. A comparison with the results of other authors is made.     

Averaging the Equations of a Planetary Problem in an Astrocentric Reference Frame

A system of averaged equations of planetary motion around a central star is constructed. An astrocentric coordinate system is used. The two-planet problem is considered, but all constructions are easily generalized to an arbitrary number N of planets. The motion is investigated in modified (complex) Poincarécanonical elements. The averaging is performed by the Hori–Deprit method over the fast mean longitudes to the second order relative to the planetary masses. An expansion of the disturbing function is constructed using the Laplace coefficients. Some terms of the expansion of the disturbing function and the first terms of the expansion of the averaged Hamiltonian are given. The results of this paper can be used to investigate the evolution of orbits with moderate eccentricities and inclinations in various planetary systems.     

Asymptotic formulas for the magnification of a gravitational lens system near a fold caustic

An approximate formula for the magnification of a point source near a fold caustic obtained in the first linear caustic approximation is widely used in the theory of gravitational lens systems. Here, this formula is refined to include the post-linear terms that have been found both for a point source and for an extended Gaussian source in the absence of continuous matter on the line of sight. The formulas are reduced to a form containing three additional parameters; the derivation of nontrivial corrections requires including the expansion terms in the lens equation up to the fourth order. The modified formula for an extended source is used to analyze strong microlensing events in the gravitational lens system Q2237+0305 (the Einstein Cross). For such an event on the light curve of image C (1999, OGLE data), the corrections found are statistically significant.     

Perihelion precession in binary systems: higher order corrections

Higher order corrections (up to n-th order) are obtained for the perihelion precession in binary systems like OJ287 using the Schwarzschild metric and complex integration. The corrections are performed considering the third root of the motion equation and developing the expansion in terms of \(r_{s}/ (a(1-e^{2}) )\).The results are compared with other expansions that appear in the literature giving corrections to second and third order. Finally, we simulate the shape of relativistic orbits for binary systems with different masses.     

On the motion of a mass point inside a rotating inhomogeneous ellipsoidal body

The plane motion of a mass point inside an inhomogeneous rotating ellipsoidal body with a homothetic density distribution is considered. The force function of the problem is expanded in terms of the ellipsoid's second eccentricities up to the fourth order, which are taken as small parameters. We derive an expression for the perturbing function and solve the equations of perturbed motion in orbital elements.     

Construction of a consistent semianalytic theory of a planetary or moon orbiter perturbed by a third body

The third body perturbation of an orbiter of a planet or moon is considered. A very convenient form of the Lagrange equations is given allowing an easy derivation of the various terms of the expansion of the perturbed elements. A careful analysis of the order of magnitude of these terms indicates which ones are required for a consistent theory. It follows that in many practical cases the main term of the disturbing function has to be carried to the second order of the perturbation theory.Paper presented at the 1981 Oberwolfach Conference on Mathematical Methods in Celestial Mechanics.Dedicated to V. Szebehely on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

A numerical investigation of secular terms of the planetary disturbing function

The secular terms of the planetary disturbing function are given, after elimination of short period terms by von Zeipel's transformation. The adequacy of this expansion up to terms of eighth order in the inclination and eccentricity is investigated by numerical processes, as a function of the Keplerian elementsa, e andi. The eccentricityé of the outer planet, is taken equal to zero. It is concluded that for values ofi which are not small the inclusion of additional terms in the expression for the disturbing function, results to drastic changes in its values, while larger values ofe do not have an equaly large effect on the disturbing function.     

Potential of a gaussian ring. A new approach

A fundamentally new approach to an elliptic Gaussian ring has been developed. It has been ascertained that it can be produced from a uniform plane elliptic disk by mass balayage into an elementary homothetic layer with the center of homothety at an ellipse focus. An advantage of new interpretation is in the fact that the spatial potential of a Gaussian ring is expressed in terms of the potential of a uniform elliptic disk, well-known in the finite form, and its derivatives. A general formula for the potential of a two-dimensional homothetic layer has been derived with this purpose. As a result, the potential of a Gaussian ring is represent-able in a simple analytical form in terms of standard complete elliptic integrals in both elliptic and Cartesian coordinates. The mass asymmetry along the ring is considered explicitly. The potential formulas are verified numerically and have no singular points at ellipse foci. Particular cases are considered; the 3D potential surface and system of equipotentials are constructed. Knowledge of the potential extends the range of application of a Gaussian ring in the problem of calculation of secular perturbations in celestial mechanics.     

On the expansion of the secular part of the perturbing function of mutual attraction in the satellite systems of planets

We propose a special representation for the secular part of the perturbing function describing the mutual attraction of satellites. In contrast to the known representations, it has a single analytical form for any ratio between the semimajor axes of the perturbed and perturbing satellites. The resulting expression is a partial sum of a power series with respect to the small eccentricities and planet-equatorial inclinations of the satellites’ orbits. This sum includes terms up to and including the fourth degree with respect to these small parameters. The proposed expansion is compared with one of the known expansions for the secular part of the perturbing function.     

Electromagnetic radiation recoil of a system ofN-charged particles

We give the radiation of anN-charged particles system associated with the succeeding terms in the expansion in the inverse powers of the velocity of light of the four vector force on the material system in a slow motion. We investigate the conditions under which theN-charged particles system may recoil while emitting electromagnetic radiation. Furthermore, the lowest-order secular effects in the radiation arise from dipole and quadrupole radiations exactly as it is expected from the classical theory.     

Stability of planar oscillations of a satellite in an elliptic orbit

A problem of stability of odd 2-periodic oscillations of a satellite in the plane of an elliptic orbit of arbitrary eccentricity is considered. The motion is supposed to be only under the influence of gravitational torques.Stability of plane oscillations was investigated earlier (Zlatoustovet al., 1964) in linear approximation. In the present paper a problem of stability is solved in the non-linear mode. Terms up to the forth order inclusive are taken into consideration in expansion of Hamiltonian in a series.It is shown that necessary conditions of stability obtained in linear approximation coincide with sufficient conditions for almost all values of parameters ande (inertial characteristics of the satellite and eccentricity of the orbit). Exceptions represent either values of the parameters ,e when a problem of stability cannot be solved in a strict manner by non-linear approximation under consideration, or values of the parameters which correspond to resonances of the third and fourth orders. At the resonance of the third order oscillations are unstable, but at the resonance of the fourth order both unstability and stability of the satellite's oscillations take place depending on the values of the parameters ,e.     

A way to generate a model of secular perturbations for planetary orbits

The reciprocal distance between two material points that rotate around a central body in nonintersecting orbits is expanded and the results are presented. The expansion is obtained accurate to the tenth order with respect to small parameters: the eccentricities and sine of the orbital inclination angle. The result is the basis of the averaging operation of the perturbation function in the system of eight major planets in the solar system, and of the numerical integration of the averaged equations of motion. The averaged Hamiltonian contains the terms whose period of variation is greater than 200 years. Forty eight equation of first order are numerically integrated with increments of 100 years for two intervals from the beginning of the Christian era: 25 million years forward and 25 million years backward over time. To present the results of calculation, the website (URL: http://vadimchazov.narod.ru/secequat.htm) was developed, where the initial codes, executable program modules, the results of calculations presented in graphical form, text files with initial conditions, tables for expanding the reciprocal distance between two material points, and the tables with the results of expansion of the perturbation function for eight major planets of the solar system are presented.     

Analytical orbit predictions with air drag using KS uniformly regular canonical elements

A new nonsingular analytical theory for the motion of near Earth satellite orbits with the air drag effect is developed for long term motion in terms of the KS uniformly regular canonical elements by a series expansion method, by assuming the atmosphere to be symmetrically spherical with constant density scale height. The series expansions include up to third order terms in eccentricity. Only two of the nine equations are solved analytically to compute the state vector and change in energy at the end of each revolution, due to symmetry in the equations of motion. Numerical comparisons of the important orbital parameters semi major axis and eccentricity up to 1000 revolutions, obtained with the present solution, with KS elements analytical solution and Cook, King-Hele and Walker's theory with respect to the numerically integrated values, show the superiority of the present solution over the other two theories over a wide range of eccentricity, perigee height and inclination.     

On the elimination of the critical term in a general first-order Uranus-Neptune theory

A solution of the Uranus-Neptune planetary canonical equations of motion through the Von Zeipel technique is presented. A unique determinging function which depends upon mixed canonical variables, reduces the 12 critical terms of the Hamiltonian to the set of its secular terms. The Poincaré canonical variables are used. We refer to a common fixed plane, and apply the Jacobi-Radau set of origins. In our expansion we neglected terms of power higher than the fourth with respect to the eccentricities and sines of the inclinations.     

Application of the Gauss' Method to the Stellar Three Body Problem

In this paper, we deal with the stellar three body problem, that is one star is far away from the other two stars. The outer orbit is assumed to be Keplerian. To analyze the effect of the distant star on the orbit of the close stars, we use the Gauss method; this method consist in replacing the gravitational attraction of the third star by the gravitational attraction of an infinitesimal non-homogeneous elliptic ring. We obtain the force vector for the Gauss method in terms of elliptic integrals. Finally we compare the results obtained by this model with the classical third body model. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Quasi-analytical solutions for the dynamics of a class of tethered satellites with Danby's aerodynamical drag

An analytic solution, in terms of expansion of a small parameter, for the classical two-body tethered satellite with a specific drag model is obtained. The time of flight as well as the solution regarding the state variable of the system are expressed in terms of quadratures of the anomaly.