The libration of a satellite caused by the tidal field of its planet

The tidal field caused by the second order zonal harmonic of the gravitational field of a planet is discussed according to the fernwirkungsgesetz (principle of local action) of Weyl (1921) introducing an accurate and simple form of the gravitational potential of the planet in elliptic coordinates. It is seen that the tidal field can be described at each point as a small rotation of the local canonical frame which causes a libration and a precession of the axis of rotation of the satellites of the planet. It is also shown that at each point P, is one third of the angle between the line of force through P and the line from P to the center of mass of the planet. All the formulae obtained, to compute and , are in closed form.