On the expansions of intermediate orbit for general planetary theory

Intermediate orbit for general planetary theory is constructed in the form of multivariate Fourier series with numerical coefficients. The structure and efficiency of the derived series are illustrated by giving various statistical properties of the coefficients.The ability of the recently proposed elliptic function approach to compress the Fourier series representing the intermediate orbit is investigated. Our results confirm that when mutual perturbations of a pair of planets are considered the elliptic function approach is quite efficient and allows one to compress the series substantially. However, when perturbations of three or more planets are under study the elliptic function approach does not give any advantages.     

Computation of elliptic Hansen coefficients and their derivatives

The problem of computation of elliptic Hansen coefficients and their derivatives is considered for constructing a motion theory of an artificial Earth satellite with large eccentricity. An algorithm for analytical and numerical computation of these coefficients and their derivatives is described. The recurrence relations for derivatives of the first and second order and initial values for recurrences are obtained. As an example, numerical values of some elliptic Hansen coefficients are given for the orbit with eccentricityk=0.74.     

Recursive calculation of hansen coefficients

Hansen coefficients are used in expansions of the elliptic motion. Three methods for calculating the coefficients are studied: Tisserand's method, the Von Zeipel-Andoyer (VZA) method with explicit representation of the polynomials required to compute the Hansen coefficients, and the VZA method with the values of the polynomials calculated recursively. The VZA method with explicit polynomials is by far the most rapid, but the tabulation of the polynomials only extends to 12th order in powers of the eccentricity, and unless one has access to the polynomials in machine-readable form their entry is laborious and error-prone. The recursive calculation of the VZA polynomials, needed to compute the Hansen coefficients, while slower, is faster than the calculation of the Hansen coefficients by Tisserand's method, up to 10th order in the eccentricity and is still relatively efficient for higher orders. The main advantages of the recursive calculation are the simplicity of the program and one's being able to extend the expansions to any order of the eccentricity with ease. Because FORTRAN does not implement recursive procedures, this paper used C for all of the calculations. The most important conclusion is recursion's genuine usefulness in scientific computing.     

Formulation of the restricted three-body problem with two-center problem orbits as intermediate orbits

The restricted three-body Hamiltonian is partitioned into a two-center type principal part and its accompanying perturbational part. The mathematical analysis, involving the Jacobian elliptic functions, is adapted for the case of figure-eight orbits winding around the two given mass points. For many such orbits the elliptic function modulusk is small and can serve as a small parameter.Fourier expansions in terms of a parameter related tot are obtained for the intermediate orbit functions which provide representations in terms of elementary functions.     

Expansions of (r/a)m cos jv and (r/a)m sin jv to high eccentricities

Expansions of the functions (r/a)^cos jv and (r/a)m ^sin jv of the elliptic motion are extended to highly eccentric orbits, 0.6627 ... <e<1. The new expansions are developed in powers of (e–e*), wheree* is a fixed value of the eccentricity. The coefficients of these expansions are expressed in terms of the derivatives of Hansen's coefficients with respect to the eccentricity. The new expansions are convergent for values of the eccentricity such that |e–e*|<(e*), where the radius of convergence (e*) is the same of the extended solution of Kepler's equation. The new expansions are intrinsically related to Lagrange's series.     

Some expansions of the elliptic motion to high eccentricities

Some classic expansions of the elliptic motion — cosmE and sinmE — in powers of the eccentricity are extended to highly eccentric orbits, 0.6627...<e<1. The new expansions are developed in powers of (e–e*), wheree* is a fixed value of the eccentricity. The coefficients are given in terms of the derivatives of Bessel functions with respect to the eccentricity. The expansions have the same radius of convergence (e*) of the extended solution of Kepler's equation, previously derived by the author. Some other simple expansions — (a/r), (r/a), (r/a) sinv, ..., — derived straightforward from the expansions ofE, cosE and sinE are also presented.     

Artificial frozen orbits around Mercury

Orbits around Mercury are influenced by the strong elliptic third-body perturbation, especially for high eccentricity orbits, the periapsis altitude changes dramatically. Frozen orbits whose mean eccentricity and argument of perigee remain constants are obviously a good choice for space missions, but the forming conditions are too harsh to meet practical needs. To deal with this problem, a continuous control method that combines analytical theory and parameter optimization is proposed to build an artificial frozen orbit. The artificial frozen orbits are investigated on the basis of double averaged Hamiltonian, of which the second and third zonal harmonics and the perturbation of elliptic third-body gravity are considered. In this paper, coefficients of perturbations which satisfy the conditions of frozen orbits are involved as control parameters, and the relevant artificial perturbations are compensated by the control strategy. So probes around Mercury can be kept on frozen orbit under the influence of continuous control force. Then complex method of optimization is used to search for the energy optimized artificial frozen orbits. The choosing of optimal parameters, the objective function setting and other issues are also discussed in the study. Evolution of optimal control parameters are given in large ranges of semi-major axis and eccentricity, through the variation of these curves, the fuel efficiency is discussed. The result shows that the control method proposed in this paper can effectively maintain the eccentricity and argument of perigee frozen.     

On the possible resonant orbits of exoplanets

Within the framework of the restricted three-body problem, the possible orbits of a small-mass exoplanet in the system with a massive exoplanet on an elliptic orbit are investigated. Possible quasi-circular orbits are sought. The dependence of the Kozdai-Lidov effect (the Kozdai resonance) on the eccentricity of the orbit of a massive planet is discussed. The effect of the commensurabilities of the mean motions on the value of the eccentricity perturbations is considered.     

The transition from elliptic to hyperbolic orbits in the two-body problem by slow loss of mass

Transition from elliptic to hyperbolic orbits in the two-body problem with slowly decreasing mass is investigated by means of asymptotic approximations.Analytical results by Verhulst and Eckhaus are extended to construct approximate solutions for the true anomaly and the eccentricity of the osculating orbit if the initial conditions are nearly-parabolic. It becomes clear that the eccentricity will monotonously increase with time for all mass functions satisfying a Jeans-Eddington relation and even for a larger set of functions. To illustrate these results quantitatively we calculate the eccentricity as a function of time for Jeans-Eddington functionsn=0(1) 5 and 18 nearly-parabolic initial conditions to find that 93 out of 108 elliptic orbits become hyperbolic.     

Application of Hamiltonian structure-preserving control to formation flying on a J 2-perturbed mean circular orbit

The bounded quasi-periodic relative trajectories are investigated in this paper for on-orbit surveillance, inspection or repair, which requires rapid changes in formation configuration for full three-dimensional imaging and unpredictable evolutions of relative trajectories for non-allied spacecraft. A linearized differential equation for modeling J ₂ perturbed relative dynamics is derived without any simplified treatment of full short-period effects. The equation serves as a nominal reference model for stationkeeping controller to generate the quasi-periodic trajectories near the equilibrium, i.e., the location of the chief. The developed model exhibits good numerical accuracy and is applicable to an elliptic orbit with small eccentricity inheriting from the osculating conversion of orbital elements. A Hamiltonian structure-preserving controller is derived for the three-dimensional time-periodic system that models the J ₂-perturbed relative dynamics on a mean circular orbit. The equilibrium of the system has time-varying topological types and no fixed-dimensional unstable/stable/center manifolds, which are quite different from the two-dimensional time-independent system with a permanent pair of hyperbolic eigenvalues and fixed-dimensions of unstable/stable/ center manifolds. The unstable and stable manifolds are employed to change the hyperbolic equilibrium to elliptic one with the poles assigned on the imaginary axis. The detailed investigations are conducted on the critical controller gain for Floquet stability and the optimal gain for the fuel cost, respectively. Any initial relative position and velocity leads to a bounded trajectory around the controlled elliptic equilibrium. The numerical simulation indicates that the controller effectively stabilizes motions relative to the perturbed elliptic orbit with small eccentricity and unperturbed elliptic orbit with arbitrary eccentricity. The developed controller stabilizes the quasi-periodic relative trajectories involved in six foundational motions with different frequencies generated by the eigenvectors of the Floquet multipliers, rather than to track a reference relative configuration. Only the relative positions are employed for the feedback without the information from the direct measurement or the filter estimation of relative velocity. So the current controller has potential applications in formation flying for its less computation overload for on-board computer, less constraint on the measurements, and easily-achievable quasi-periodic relative trajectories.     

Radius of convergence of Lie series for some elliptic elements

For equatorial orbits about an oblate body, we show that the Lie series for the elliptic elementse,f,l and diverge when the oblateness exceeds a critical multiple of the transformed eccentricity constant. The use of similar truncated series expansions for such elliptic elements by Brouwer accounts for the first-order errors at low eccentricity in his derived coordinates for an artificial satellite.     

Exact Delaunay normalization of the perturbed Keplerian Hamiltonian with tesseral harmonics

A novel approach for the exact Delaunay normalization of the perturbed Keplerian Hamiltonian with tesseral and sectorial spherical harmonics is presented in this work. It is shown that the exact solution for the Delaunay normalization can be reduced to quadratures by the application of Deprit’s Lie-transform-based perturbation method. Two different series representations of the quadratures, one in powers of the eccentricity and the other in powers of the ratio of the Earth’s angular velocity to the satellite’s mean motion, are derived. The latter series representation produces expressions for the short-period variations that are similar to those obtained from the conventional method of relegation. Alternatively, the quadratures can be evaluated numerically, resulting in more compact expressions for the short-period variations that are valid for an elliptic orbit with an arbitrary value of the eccentricity. Using the proposed methodology for the Delaunay normalization, generalized expressions for the short-period variations of the equinoctial orbital elements, valid for an arbitrary tesseral or sectorial harmonic, are derived. The result is a compact unified artificial satellite theory for the sub-synchronous and super-synchronous orbit regimes, which is nonsingular for the resonant orbits, and is closed-form in the eccentricity as well. The accuracy of the proposed theory is validated by comparison with numerical orbit propagations.     

Secular orbit variation due to solar radiation effects: a detailed model for BYORP

A detailed derivation of the effect of solar radiation pressure on the orbit of a body about a primary orbiting the Sun is given. The result is a set of secular equations that can be used for long-term predictions of changes in the orbit. Solar radiation pressure is modeled as a Fourier series in the body’s rotation state, where the coefficients are based on the shape and radiation properties of the body as parameters. In this work, the assumption is made that the body is in a synchronous orbit about the primary and rotates at a constant rate. This model is used to write explicit variational equations of the energy, eccentricity vector, and angular momentum vector for an orbiting body. Given that the effect of the solar radiation pressure and the orbit are periodic functions, they are readily averaged over an orbit. Furthermore, the equations can be averaged again over the orbit of the primary about the Sun to give secular equations for long-term prediction. This methodology is applied to both circular and elliptical orbits, and the full equations for secular changes to the orbit in both cases are presented. These results can be applied to natural systems, such as the binary asteroid system 1999 KW4, to predict their evolution due to the Binary YORP effect, or to artificial Earth orbiting, nadir-pointing satellites to enable more precise models for their orbital evolution.     

Nodal regression of the quadrantid meteor stream: An analytic approach

The mean orbit of the Quadrantid meteor stream has a high eccentricity and inclination with an aphelion close to the orbit of Jupiter. The nodal regression rate, a quantity which has been well determined from observations, cannot be calculated with sufficient accuracy using standard low-order expansions of the disturbing function. By using a high-order expansion of the disturbing function we show how the behavior of the longitude of ascending node of the Quadrantid stream is a result of both secular and resonant effects. Our analysis illustrates how the proximity of the stream's orbit to the 2: 1 commensurability with Jupiter dominates the short-term variations in orbital elements.     

On the attitude dynamics of perturbed triaxial rigid bodies

Attitude dynamics of perturbed triaxial rigid bodies is a rather involved problem, due to the presence of elliptic functions even in the Euler equations for the free rotation of a triaxial rigid body. With the solution of the Euler–Poinsot problem, that will be taken as the unperturbed part, we expand the perturbation in Fourier series, which coefficients are rational functions of the Jacobian nome. These series converge very fast, and thus, with only few terms a good approximation is obtained. Once the expansion is performed, it is possible to apply to it a Lie-transformation. An application to a tri-axial rigid body moving in a Keplerian orbit is made.     

On the effect of the eccentricity of a planetary orbit on the stability of satellite orbits

The effect of the eccentricity of a planet’s orbit on the stability of the orbits of its satellites is studied. The model used is the elliptic Hill case of the planar restricted three-body problem. The linear stability of all the known families of periodic orbits of the problem is computed. No stable orbits are found, the majority of them possessing one or two pairs of real eigenvalues of the monodromy matrix, while a part of a family with complex instability is found. Two families of periodic orbits, bifurcating from the Lagrangian points L₁, L₂ of the corresponding circular case are found analytically. These orbits are very unstable and the determination of their stability coefficients is not accurate, so we compute the largest Liapunov exponent in their vicinity. In all cases these exponents are positive, indicating the existence of chaotic motions     

Expansion theory for the elliptic motion of arbitrary eccentricity and semi-major axis

In this paper of the series, elliptic expansions in terms of the sectorial variables θ _j ⁽ⁱ⁾ introduced in Paper IV (Sharaf, 1982) to regularise highly oscillating perturbation force of some orbital systems will be explored for the first four categories. For each of the elliptic expansions belonging to a category, literal analytical expressions for the coefficients of its trigonometric series representation are established. Moreover, some recurrence formulae satisfied by these coefficients are also established to facilitate their computations, numerical results are included to provide test examples for constructing computational algorithms.     

Expansion theory for the elliptic motion of arbitrary eccentricity and semi-major axis

In this paper of the series, elliptic expansions in terms of the sectorial variables _j ^j introduced recently in Paper IV (Sharaf, 1982) to regularise highly oscillating perturbations force of some orbital systems will be established analytically and computationally for the seventh and eighth categories. For each of the elliptic expansions belonging to a category, literal analytical expressions for the coefficients of its trigonometric series representation are established. Moreover, some recurrence formulae satisfied by these coefficients are also established to facilitate their computations, numerical results are included to provide test examples for constructing computational algorithms.     

High-order solutions of invariant manifolds associated with libration point orbits in the elliptic restricted three-body system

High-order analytical solutions of invariant manifolds, associated with Lissajous and halo orbits in the elliptic restricted three-body problem (ERTBP), are constructed in this paper. The equations of motion of ERTBP in the pulsating synodic coordinate system have five equilibrium points, and the three collinear libration points as well as the associated center manifolds are unstable. In our calculation, the general solutions of the invariant manifolds associated with Lissajous and halo orbits around collinear libration points are expressed as power series of five parameters: the orbital eccentricity, two amplitudes corresponding to the hyperbolic manifolds, and two amplitudes corresponding to the center manifolds. The analytical solutions up to arbitrary order are constructed by means of Lindstedt–Poincaré method, and then the center and invariant manifolds, transit and non-transit trajectories in ERTBP are all parameterized. Since the circular restricted three-body problem (CRTBP) is a particular case of ERTBP when the eccentricity is zero, the general solutions constructed in this paper can be reduced to describe the dynamics around the collinear libration points in CRTBP naturally. In order to check the validity of the series expansions constructed, the practical convergence of the series expansions up to different orders is studied.     

Explicit Symplectic Integrator for Rotating Satellites

An explicit symplectic integrator is constructed for the problem of a rotating planetary satellite on a Keplerian orbit. The spin vector is fixed perpendicularly to the orbital plane. The integrator is constructed according to the Wisdom-Holman approach: the Hamiltonian is separated in two parts so that one of them is multiplied by a small parameter. The parameter depends on the satellite’s shape or the eccentricity of its orbit. The leading part of the Hamiltonian for small eccentricity orbits is similar to the simple pendulum and hence integrable; the perturbation does not depend on angular momentum which implies a trivial ‘kick’ solution. In spite of the necessity to evaluate elliptic function at each step, the explicit symplectic integrator proves to be quite efficient. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.