Relative equilibria for general gravity fields in the sphere-restricted full two-body problem.
Equilibrium conditions for a mutually attracting general mass distribution and point mass are stated. The equilibrium conditions can be reduced to six equations in six unknowns, plus the existence of integrals of motion consisting of the total angular momentum and energy of the system. The equilibrium conditions are further reduced to two independent equations, and their theoretical properties are studied. We state a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for an equilibrium that is well suited to the computation of certain classes of equilibria. These equations are solved for nonsymmetric gravity fields of interest, using a real asteroid shape model for the general gravity fields. The stability of the resulting equilibria are also noted.
Scheeres
D J
DJ
Aerospace Engineering Department, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. scheeres@umich.edu