Verification of Earth's "Pear Shape" Gravitational Harmonic
- 23 September 1960
- journal article
- other
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 132 (3430) , 807-808
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.132.3430.807
Abstract
Predictions of the orbit of the Transit 1B satellite were systematically in error until account was taken of a third-order gravitational harmonic. The amplitude deduced for this harmonic by O'Keefe from the Vanguard I orbit serves very well, even though the orbits and the methods of observation and orbit fitting for the two satellites are quite different.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- The gravitational field of the earthThe Astronomical Journal, 1959
- Vanguard Measurements Give Pear-Shaped Component of Earth's FigureScience, 1959