Celestial Mechanics

1 Short Problems
1. A Sun-orbiting periodic comet is the farthest at 31.5 A.U. and the closest at 0.5 A.U. What is the orbital
period of this comet? What is the area (in square A.U. per year) swept by the line joining the comet
and the Sun?

2. A spacecraft landed on the surface of a spherical asteroid with negligible rotation, whose diameter is 2.2
g
km, and its average density is 2.2 cm 3 . Can the astronaut complete a circle along the equator of the

asteroid on foot within 2.2 hours?

4. Cometary orbits usually have very large eccentricities, often approaching unity. Halley’s comet has an
orbital period of 76 yr and an orbital eccentricity of e “ 0.9673.
1. What is the semimajor axis of Comet Halley’s orbit?
2. Use the orbital data of Comet Halley to estimate the mass of the Sun.
3. Calculate the distance of Comet Halley from the Sun at perihelion and aphelion.
4. Determine the orbital speed of the comet when at perihelion, at aphelion, and on the semiminor
axis of its orbit.
5. How many times larger is the kinetic energy of Halley’s comet at perihelion than at aphelion?
5. A small particle of mass m is on a circular orbit of radius R around a much larger mass R. Suppose that
we suddenly increase the speed at which the mass m is moving, by a factor α (that is, vf inal “ αvinitial ,
with α ą 1). Compute the major axis, minor axis, pericenter distance, and apocenter distance for the
new orbit; express your answers in terms of R and α alone.
6. The velocity of a comet is 5 m/s, when it is very far from the Sun. If it moved along a straight line, it
would pass the Sun at a distance of 1 A.U. Find the eccentricity, semimajor axis and perihelion distance
of the orbit. What will happen to the comet?
7. Calculate the ratio between the average densities of the Earth and the Sun using ONLY the data set
below:
• angular diameter of the Sun as seen from earth
• gravitational acceleration on Earth’s surface
• the length of the year
• the fact that one degree in latitude at Earth’s surface corresponds to 111 km.
8. A satellite of mass ms is in an elliptical orbit around a planet of mass mp " ms . The planet is located
at one focus of the ellipse. The satellite is at the distance ra when it is furthest from the planet. The
distance of closest approach is rp . Determine:
1. The speed vp of the satellite when it is closest to the planet
2. The speed va of the satellite when it is furthest from the planet.
2 Long Problems
1. Consider a Potential Hazardous Object (PHO) moving in a closed orbit under the influence of the
Earth’s gravitational force. Let u be the inverse of the distance of the object from the Earth and p be
the magnitude of its linear momentum. As the object travels through points A and B, values of u and p
are noted as shown in the following table. Find the mass and the total energy of the object, and sketch
the shape of u curve as a function of p from A to B.

p (ˆ109 kgms´1 ) u (ˆ10´8 m´1 )

2. In order to move a spacecraft between orbits we must apply a thrust using rockets, which changes the
velocity of the spacecraft by4 ∆v. In this question we will ignore changes in the mass of the spacecraft
due to the burning of fuel.
For an object of mass m in a circular orbit of radius r around
b an object with mass M (where m ! M )
GM
the orbital velocity, vorb , is given by the formula vorb “ r .

1. Show that vorb in low Earth orbit (LEO; about 200km above the surface), is about 8 km
s . This is
an estimate of the ∆v the rockets need to provide for the spacecraft to reach LEO.

An economical route to take when travelling between planets is called a Hohmann transfer or-
bit. This is an ellipse for which the perihelion coincides with the inner planetary orbit (with radius
rA ) and the aphelion coincides with the outer planetary orbit (with radius rB ). It is achieved by
increasing the velocity of the spacecraft at point A by ∆vA before then increasing it again at point
B by ∆vB .

For an ellipse with semi-major axis a it can be shown that the velocity v, at a distance r from mass
M , can be written as: ˆ ˙
2 1
v 2 “ GM ´
r a
2. Derive expressions for ∆vA and∆vB by comparing their circular orbital speeds with their transfer
orbit speeds. Simplify your final expressions to include G, MÄ , rA , and rB only.
3. Approximating Mars’ orbit as circular with a radius of 1.52 AU, calculate the ∆v to go from Earth
LEO to Mars i.e. ∆v “ |∆vA | ` |∆vB |. Compare your answer to the ∆v to reach Earth LEO.

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 4. Derive an expression for the total time spent on the transfer orbit, tH , and calculate it for an Earth
to Mars transfer. Give your answer in months. (Use 1 month = 30 days.)
5. Hence calculate the direct distance between Earth and Mars at the moment the spacecraft reaches
Mars. How long would it take a radio message from the spacecraft to reach Earth?
6. How long would any astronauts on board the spacecraft need to wait until they could use a Hohmann
transfer orbit to return to Earth? Hence calculate the total duration of the mission.
3. India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) was launched using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on
5 November 2013. The dry mass of MOM was 500 kg and it carried fuel of mass 852 kg. It was initially
placed in an elliptical orbit around the Earth with perigee at a height of 264km and apogee at a height
of 23 904 km, above the surface of the Earth. After raising the orbit six times, MOM was transferred to
a trans-Mars injection orbit (Hohmann orbit).
The first such orbit-raising was performed by firing the engines for a very short time near the perigee.
The engines were fired to change the orbit without changing the plane of the orbit and without changing
its perigee. This gave a net impulse of 1.73 ˆ 105 kgms´1 to the satellite. Ignore the change in mass
due to burning of fuel.

1. What is the height of the new apogee, ha , above the surface of the Earth, after this engine burn?
2. Find eccentricity (e) of the new orbit after the burn and new orbital period (P) of MOM in hours.
4. A projectile
b which starts from the surface of the Earth at the sea level is launched with the initial speed
GMÀ
of v0 “ RÀ and with the projecting angle (with respect to the local horizon) of θ “ π6 . Ignore the
air resistance and rotation of the Earth.
1. Show that the orbit of the projectile is an ellipse with a semi-major axis of a “ RÀ .
2. Calculate the highest altitude of the projectile with respect to the Earth surface (in the unit of
RÀ ).
3. What is the range of the projectile (surface distance between launching point and falling point) in
the units of RÀ ?
4. What is eccentricity (e) of this elliptical orbit?
5. Find the time of flight for the projectile.

3 Homework
1. Solve all the problems on this worksheet, including those already solved in class. If you have any
questions, just email me. Solutions will be posted after the due date for this homework.

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