A new post-Newtonian long-term precession model for the Earth

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • K. Tang - , CAS - Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (Author)
  • M. Soffel - , Research Group for Astronomy (Author)
  • J. H. Tao - , CAS - Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (Author)
  • Z. H. Tang - , CAS - Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)

Abstract

Long-term precession represents the secular motion of the Earth's axis for a long time interval. In 2015, we calculated the Earth's long-term precession in a relativistic framework. However, our previous works involving the ecliptic in the Geocentric Celestial Reference System are deficient, because the natural definition of this ecliptic is still ambiguous. To obtain a long-term precession model in accordance with general relativity, improvements are made including the following: all calculations are no longer carried out in the reference related to any ecliptic; a new hybrid integrator is designed and used for this precession model; ecliptic-independent precession parameters are calculated and provided. A detailed comparison analysis is performed to estimate the importance of various relativistic influences on the precession parameters. Valid within the interval of ± 1 Myr around J2000.0, a consistent post-Newtonian long-term precession model for the Earth has been achieved and is presented here.

Details

Original languageEnglish
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume507
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2021
Peer-reviewedYes

Keywords

Keywords

  • astrometry, ephemerides, reference systems, relativistic processes