Orbital Precession

• Caused by J2 term in Earth’s gravitational field

dS/dt = -2.1(a/10,000)-7/2 cosi (1-e2)-2 deg/day

dT/dt = 1.0(a/10,000)-7/2 (4 - 5 sin2i) (1-e2)-2 deg/day

VSOP

dS/dt = -0.62 deg/day

dT/dt = 0.96 deg/day

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