The long-period motion of the plane of a distant circular orbit

Abstract

We consider Earth satellites in the region where the perturbing effects due to Earth’s oblateness and luni-solar gravitational forces are comparable. A general solution is obtained for simultaneous precession about any number of fixed axes; this is an extension of Laplace’s treatment for the motion of Iapetus about Saturn. Results are given for general orbits on the assumption that the lunar orbit lies in the ecliptic. Synchronous orbits are considered in greater detail.