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A simple bound for the variation at closest approach of a small body and star due to general relativity
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Veras, Dimitri (2014) A simple bound for the variation at closest approach of a small body and star due to general relativity. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, Volume 442 (Number 1). L71-L75. doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slu053 ISSN 1745-3925.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slu053
Abstract
As a comet, asteroid or planet approaches its parent star, the orbit changes shape due to the curvature of space–time. For comets in particular, the deviation at the pericentre may noticeably change their ephemerides and affect the dynamics of outgassing, tidal disruption or other processes which act on orbital time-scales and are assumed to follow Newtonian gravity. By obtaining and analysing the unaveraged equations of motion in orbital elements due to the dominant post-Newtonian contribution (1PN), I derive a simple analytic expression for the maximum deviation in terms of only the stellar mass and eccentricity of the orbit. This relation can be used to assess the potential importance of including short-period relativistic terms in models containing comets, asteroids or planets, and help determine the level of precision needed in numerical integrations. The magnitude of the deviation in systems with solar-like stars is typically comparable to the size of comet nuclei, and the direction of the deviation is determined by the eccentricity. I show that for eccentricities above a critical value of 19−−√−4≈0.359, the direction is away from the star.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Physics | ||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters | ||||||||
Publisher: | Oxford University Press | ||||||||
ISSN: | 1745-3925 | ||||||||
Official Date: | 21 July 2014 | ||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | Volume 442 | ||||||||
Number: | Number 1 | ||||||||
Page Range: | L71-L75 | ||||||||
DOI: | 10.1093/mnrasl/slu053 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
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