The norm of the position shift of a celestial body upon variation of its orbit

Abstract

A precise estimate of the variation of the position of a celestial body in the case of small variations of the elements of its orbit is obtained using an Euclidean (mean-square) norm for the deviation in the position. A relatively simple expression for the mean-square deviation of the radius vector dr in terms of the deviations of the elements is derived. These are taken to be first-order small quantitites, with second-order quantities neglected. This relation is applied to estimate the norm ||dr|| in two problems. In the first one, small and constant differences between six orbital elements (including the mean anomaly) are considered for two orbits. In the second one, a zero-mass point moves under the gravitation of a central body and a small perturbing acceleration F. The vector F is taken to be constant in a co-moving coordinate system with axes directed along the radius vector, the transversal, and the binormal vector. In this latter problem, dr is the difference between the position vectors in the osculating and mean orbit. The norm ||dr||² is the weighted sum of the squares of the components of F, neglecting higher-order small quantities. The coefficients of the quadratic form depend only on the semi-major axis and the eccentricity of the mean orbit. The results are applied to the motion of a small asteroid under the action of a low-thrust engine imparting a small force.