Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jan 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....40.3905w&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #39.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.561
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We present a study incorporating radio science data from the MESSENGER mission but conducted independently from the mission's navigation and radio science teams. Our goal is to characterize the gravitational field of Mercury by numerically modeling the trajectory of the MESSENGER spacecraft's 2008 Jan 14 flyby. We attempt to reproduce the observed doppler shifts by taking into account a number of dynamical variables, including GM, the second-order harmonic coefficients C20 & C22, and gravity anomalies. We seek improved estimates of these parameters as compared to those obtained previously from Mariner 10 data. Knowledge of these parameters is significant to our understanding of the state of the planet's interior, in particular by supplementing recent Earth-based radar observations of Mercury's obliquity and libration amplitude. This project received funding from the National Science Foundation as a summer REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) Project at Cornell University.
Margot Jean-Luc
Waszczak Adam
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