Abstract
A new method of computing the preliminary orbit of a celestial body based on four pairs of angle measurements has been suggested. The method makes use of preliminary orbit previously constructed by the author based on two position vectors and a corresponding time interval, taking into account the main part of the perturbations in the motion of the body under study. Using the example of constructing the orbit of the minor planet 1383 Limburgia, the results obtained using a four-position procedure of the Gaussian type based on the solution of a two-body problem have been compared with those of the new method. The comparison showed the new method to be highly efficient for perturbed motion studies. It is especially advantageous in the case of high-accuracy observation data on small orbital arcs.
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Original Russian Text © V.A. Shefer, 2008, published in Astronomicheskii Vestnik, 2008, Vol. 42, No. 5, pp. 434–443.
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Shefer, V.A. A method of intermediate orbit determination based on four positions of a minor body on the celestial sphere. Sol Syst Res 42, 405–413 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0038094608050043
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0038094608050043