Perturbations, Untruncated in Eccentricity, for an Orbit in an Axi-Symmetric Gravitational Field
Abstract
By recourse to a particular system of spherical polar coordinates based on the mean orbital plane, an orbital theory has been developed that leads to extremely compact first-order perturbation formulae associated with the general zonal harmonic, J sub l. The formulae are complete (untruncated in eccentricity) and generalize, via recurrence relations, the author's earlier results for the effects of J sub 2 (analysed to second order) and J sub 3. To illustrate the compact nature of individual expression, the (untruncated) perturbation formulae due to J sub 4 given. This is the text of a paper that was presented (on 9 August 1989, as Paper AAS 89-451) at the 1989 AAS/AIAA astrodynamics Specialist Conference, held in Stowe. The paper is printed here in the format required for publication of the Conference Proceedings in Adv. Astronaut. Sci. (Vol. 71, pp 1229-1250, 1990). In an edited form, it has also been published in the Journal of the Astronautical Sciences (Vol. 39, pp 65-85, 1991). The paper was originally prepared as a greatly shortened version of RAE TR 89022.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 06, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA236640
Entities
People
- Robert H. Gooding
Organizations
- Royal Aircraft Establishment