Reduced solar quadrupole moment compensates for lack of asteroids in long-term solar system integrations

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zeebe, Richard E., Kocken, Ilja J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866916715729780736
author Zeebe, Richard E.
Kocken, Ilja J.
author_facet Zeebe, Richard E.
Kocken, Ilja J.
contents State-of-the-art long-term solar system integrations include several second order effects such as the Sun's quadrupole moment J2 and a contribution from asteroids (plus the Moon and general relativity). We recently showed that including 10 asteroids and a reduced J2 in our astronomical solutions provides the best match with geologic data to -58 Myr. However, the rationale for the reduced J2 remained ambiguous and may suggest that parameters for long-term integrations compatible with geologic observations are not fully compatible with our knowledge of the current solar system (specifically J2). Here we show that a reduced J2 compensates for a diminished asteroid population in long-term solar system integrations, which may appear surprising. We present an analysis and offer a mechanism for the long-term compensating effects of J2 and asteroid mass in the solar system (not planetary systems in general). Our analysis suggests that "differential effects" on specific secular frequencies involved in resonant terms (i.e., (g4-g3) and (s4-s3)), are critical in the long term, rather than short-term effects on the orbital elements of individual planetary orbits across the board. Also, our results indicate that if long-term intergrations including the full asteroid population were computationally feasible, a J2 value (within errors) compatible with our current knowledge of the solar system could be used. Attempts to improve the long-term accuracy of astronomical solutions by, e.g., tinkering with initial conditions using current/future astronomical observations are futile unless asteroid deficiencies in the solar system model are addressed.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_00187
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Reduced solar quadrupole moment compensates for lack of asteroids in long-term solar system integrations
Zeebe, Richard E.
Kocken, Ilja J.
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
State-of-the-art long-term solar system integrations include several second order effects such as the Sun's quadrupole moment J2 and a contribution from asteroids (plus the Moon and general relativity). We recently showed that including 10 asteroids and a reduced J2 in our astronomical solutions provides the best match with geologic data to -58 Myr. However, the rationale for the reduced J2 remained ambiguous and may suggest that parameters for long-term integrations compatible with geologic observations are not fully compatible with our knowledge of the current solar system (specifically J2). Here we show that a reduced J2 compensates for a diminished asteroid population in long-term solar system integrations, which may appear surprising. We present an analysis and offer a mechanism for the long-term compensating effects of J2 and asteroid mass in the solar system (not planetary systems in general). Our analysis suggests that "differential effects" on specific secular frequencies involved in resonant terms (i.e., (g4-g3) and (s4-s3)), are critical in the long term, rather than short-term effects on the orbital elements of individual planetary orbits across the board. Also, our results indicate that if long-term intergrations including the full asteroid population were computationally feasible, a J2 value (within errors) compatible with our current knowledge of the solar system could be used. Attempts to improve the long-term accuracy of astronomical solutions by, e.g., tinkering with initial conditions using current/future astronomical observations are futile unless asteroid deficiencies in the solar system model are addressed.
title Reduced solar quadrupole moment compensates for lack of asteroids in long-term solar system integrations
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.00187