The secular motion of Pallas
Abstract
Pallas, the second most massive asteroid, was discovered by Olbers in 1802. The present investigation is concerned with the variation of the secular elements for Pallas over a 700,000-yr period. The study is based on the numerical integration of the Lagrange planetary equations from which the short-period terms have been removed by Gauss' method. Some of the results obtained by Williams (1969) and Kozai (1980) could be verified. It is also possible to identify approximately the most important periods present in the secular elements and to provide more accurate bounds on the variations of the eccentricity and inclination. Attention is also given to an integration over 100,000 yr of a modified form of the equations of motion that includes the 18:7 commensurability with Jupiter. Comparison of the two integrations shows that the commensurability has little effect.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- April 1982
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/199.2.255
- Bibcode:
- 1982MNRAS.199..255T
- Keywords:
-
- Asteroids;
- Celestial Mechanics;
- Orbital Elements;
- Secular Variations;
- Solar Orbits;
- Eccentricity;
- Jupiter (Planet);
- Orbit Perturbation;
- PALLAS ASTEROID;
- ASTRONOMY;
- ASTEROIDS;
- PERTURBATIONS;
- ORBITS;
- DATA;
- AMPLITUDE;
- INCLINATIONS;
- ECCENTRICITY;
- RETROGRADE MOTION;
- PROCEDURE;
- MATHEMATICAL MODELS;
- DIAGRAMS;
- TECHNIQUES;
- Astronomy; Asteroids