Taking both a theoretical and observational perspective, this book is an introduction to recent developments in the field of celestial mechanics. It emphasizes the application to extended celestial bodies and devotes much attention to rotational aspects. In particular, it explains the state of art for accurate modelling of the rotation of celestial bodies such as the Earth, the Moon, and Mercury, which involves principles related to hydrodynamics and geodesy. Comparisons between the light curves of the asteroids and their rotational state are made and spatial techniques leading to the determination of the Earth's gravitational field are explained. Also, the book provides a general overview of the collisional processes in the solar system and of the dynamics of the rings. It is addressed to graduate students and researchers in space sciences and celestial dynamics.
Author(s): Tadashi Tokieda (auth.), Jean Souchay (eds.)
Series: Lecture Notes in Physics 682
Edition: 1
Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 208
Tags: Astronomy;Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Sciences;Mechanics;Geophysics/Geodesy
Spinning Bodies: A Tutorial....Pages 1-22
Physics of the Earth’s Interior, Deformation and Rotation....Pages 23-66
Modelling and Characterizing the Earth’s Gravity Field: From Basic Principles to Current Purposes....Pages 67-87
Asteroids from Observations to Models....Pages 89-116
Modelling Collisions Between Asteroids: From Laboratory Experiments to Numerical Simulations....Pages 117-143
Geometric Conditions for Quasi-Collisions in öpik’s Theory....Pages 145-158
The Synchronous Rotation of the Moon....Pages 159-167
The Spin-Orbit Rotation of Mercury....Pages 169-181
Dynamics of Planetary Rings....Pages 183-200
