Lunar physical librations due to rotation of the ecliptic (Q1819958)

Irregularities of the Moon's rotation due to rotation of the ecliptical plane were derived for all three libration components. Optimum values of coefficients in the linearized equations of motion, which strongly affect the magnitude of the resulting terms, were determined by comparing the rotation relative to the moving and to the fixed reference ecliptical system. Ecliptic rotation causes monthly oscillations of the Moon's polar axis of 6.1'' and deviations of 0.3'' from uniform rotation along that axis with a period of 18.6 yr.