Publication at Faculty of Mathematics and Physics |
2010
Abstract
To test General Relativity with the tracking data of the BepiColombo Mercury orbiter we need relativistic models for the orbits of Mercury and of the Earth, for the light-time and for all the spatio-temporal reference frames involved. We have found a consistent formulation for the preferred frame effects, although the center of mass is not an integral.
For the identification of strong equivalence principle (SEP) violations we use a formulation containing both direct and indirect effects. In the light-time equations, the Shapiro effect is modeled to PN order 1 but with an order 2 correction compatible with (Moyer 2003).
The 1.5-PN order corrections containing the Sun's velocity are not relevant at the required level of accuracy.