Evolution of the Motion Around a Slowly Rotating Body

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Cairo University.

Abstract

The motion of a satellite about a rotating triaxial body will be investigated, stressing on the case of slow rotation. The Hamiltonian of the problem will be formed including the zonal harmonic J2 and the leading tesseral harmonics C22 and S22. The small parameter of the problem is the spin rate (σ) of the primary. The solution proceeds through three canonical transformations to eliminate in succession; the short, intermediate and longperiod terms. Thus secular and periodic terms are to be retained up to orders four and two respectively.