Method for High-accuracy Determinations of Orbits of Small Bodies from Three Observations

V. A. Shefer

Protecting the Earth against Collisions with Asteroids and Comet Nuclei, In: A. M. Finkelstein, W. F. Huebner, V. A. Shor (Eds) Proceedings of the International Conference “Asteroid-Comet Hazard-2009”, StP: Nauka, 65–69 (2010)

Keywords: Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), Small Solar System Body (SSSB), method for high-accuracy determinations, preliminary orbit of a small celestial body, angular measurements, the intermediate orbit, three position vectors, perturbations in the motion, a methodical error of orbit computation, the unperturbed Keplerian orbit

Abstract

A new method is suggested for finding the preliminary orbit of a small celestial body from three pairs of angular measurements of its position at three moments. The method uses the intermediate orbit that we previously constructed from three position vectors and the corresponding times. This intermediate orbit allows for most of the perturbations in the motion of the body under study. The methodical error of orbit computation by the proposed method is generally three orders smaller than the corresponding error of the traditional approach based on the construction of the unperturbed Keplerian orbit