Report of the IAU/IAG Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements: 2003

Abstract

Every three years the IAU/IAG Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements revises tables giving the directions of the north poles of rotation and the prime meridians of the planets, satellites, and asteroids. This report introduces a system of cartographic coordinates for asteroids and comets. A topographic reference surface for Mars is recommended. Tables for the rotational elements of the planets and satellites and size and shape of the planets and satellites are not included, since there were no changes to the values. They are available in the previous report (Celest. Mech. Dyn. Astron., 82, 83-110, 2002), a version of which is also available on a web site.

New High-Precision Values of the Geodetic Rotation of the Major Planets, Pluto, the Moon and the Sun

“…A) The problem of the geodetic (relativistic) rotation of the Solar system bodies (the Moon, major planets, Pluto and the Sun) is studied with respect to the proper coordinate systems of the bodies (Seidelmann et al, 2005).…”

“…The reduction of the components of the angular velocity vector of the geodetic rotation of the Solar system bodies, from the geocentric reference frame (the reference frame of DE422/LE422 ephemeris (Folkner, 2011)) to the body-centric reference frames, given by Seidelmann et al (2005), are found from the triangle (presented in Figure 1), which is used to define the direction of the angular velocity vector of the geodetic rotation for any body of the Solar system, by means of the following formulae: …”

“…This investigation is continuation of our studies of the geodetic (relativistic) rotation of the Solar system bodies (Eroshkin and Pashkevich, 2007) and (Eroshkin and Pashkevich, 2009). For each body (the Moon, the Sun, the major planets and Pluto) the files of the values of the components of the angular velocity of the geodetic rotation are constructed over the time span from AD1000 to AD3000 with one day spacing, by using DE422/LE422 ephemeris (Folkner, 2011), with respect to the proper coordinate systems of the bodies (Seidelmann et al, 2005). For the first time in the perturbing terms of the physical librations for the Moon and in Euler angles for other bodies of the Solar system the most essential terms of the geodetic rotation are found by means of the least squares method and spectral analysis methods.…”

On the Geodetic Rotation of the Major Planets, the Moon and the Sun

“…The problem of the geodetic (relativistic) rotation of the major planets, the Moon and the Sun was studied in the paper by Eroshkin and Pashkevich (2007) only for the components of the angular velocity vectors of the geodetic rotation, which are orthogonal to the plane of the fixed ecliptic J2000. This research represents an extension of the previous investigation to all the other components of the angular velocity vector of the geodetic rotation, with respect to the body-centric reference frame from Seidelmann et al (2005). …”

“…Figure 1 depicts the triangle, which is used to define the components of the angular velocity vector of the geodetic rotation for any body of the Solar system. The reduction of the components of the angular velocity vector of the geodetic rotation of the solar system bodies, from the standard Earth equator J2000 (the reference frame of DE404/LE404 ephemeris) to the body-centric reference frames, given by Seidelmann et al (2005), is presented by the following expressions:…”