The effect of \(C_{22}\) on orbit energy and angular momentum (Q1976109)

The author investigates the effect of the \(C_{22}\) gravity term of an isolated uniform rotating body on the change in orbit energy and angular momentum of a particle moving in an orbit about the central body. This dynamic problem has a Jacobi integral defined in the body-fixed coordinate system, which is analogous to the integral in restricted three-body problem. This integral is re-expressed in terms of the Keplerian energy and angular momentum. The equations of motion are a modified set of canonical elements. To evaluate the change in the elements, the author uses the first iteration of Picard's method. The formulae, which allow to compute the change, are given in terms of orbital parameters. It is established that the effect of \(C_{22}\) becomes maximal when the particle passes the pericenter. To illustrate the theory, the author constructs contour plots for asteroids Ida, Eros, and Castalia, showing the normalized changes in orbit energy and angular momentum. The theoretical results are compared with the results of numerical integrations. The agreement is good for high eccentric elliptic orbit, parabolic orbit and hyperbolic orbit, but the accuracy begins to degrade sharply when the eccentricity of an elliptic orbit falls below a few tenths.