Abstract
Taking into account the entire spectrum of potential harmonics, equations are developed for the secular motions of the node and pericenter referred to the invariant plane in a two-body problem when one is a sphere and the other a spinning asymmetrical rigid body (e.g., sun-planet system, or point satellite-planet system). Oblateness precession of satellite orbits and equinoctial precession of planets are shown to be merely opposite extreme cases of the single phenomenon of precession in spin-orbit coupling, in which the determining parameter is the ratio of orbital to spin angular momentum (ho/hs). The “critical” inclination for apsidal motion also depends on this ratio, varying from 63.43° in the one extreme when (ho/hs) ≪ 1, to 90° in the opposite extreme when (ho/hs) ≫ 1. Application is made to the earth-sun-moon system. (The full text of this lecture appeared in Celestial Mechanics, Vol. 32, pp 355–364, 1984.)
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