Estimating Mercury's 88-day libration amplitude from orbit

Details Estimating Mercury's 88-day libration amplitude from orbit Estimating Mercury's 88-day libration amplitude from orbit

Jul 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004p%26ss...52..727j&link_type=abstract

Planetary and Space Science, Volume 52, Issue 8, p. 727-732.

Computer Science

5

Mercury, Bepicolombo, Libration Amplitude, Spin-Orbit Resonance

Scientific paper

In this paper it is derived that the libration of Mercury can be described by γ=Φ0sinM+Φ0/Ksin2M where Φ0 is the unknown libration amplitude, M is Mercury's mean anomaly and K=-9.483. Φ0 can be determined by comparing pairs of images of the same landmarks taken by an orbiter at different positions of Mercury. If the angle between the orbit plane of a polar orbiter and Mercury's line of periapsis is between -60° and 60° and if one landmark at the equator is imaged per day with a relative precision of 1.6arcsec, then the libration amplitude can be determined in two Mercury years (176 days) with an accuracy of 1arcsec or better, which is sufficient to answer the question whether Mercury has a solid or fluid core.

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