Related papers: On testing frame-dragging with LAGEOS and a recent…
The pericenter shift of a binary system represents a suitable observable to test for possible deviations from the Newtonian inverse-square law in favor of new weak interactions between macroscopic objects. We analyzed 13 years of tracking…
It has often been claimed that the proposed Earth artificial satellite LARES/WEBER-SAT-whose primary goal is, in fact, the measurement of the general relativistic Lense-Thirring effect at a some percent level-would allow to greatly improve,…
The recently approved Juno mission will orbit Jupiter for one year in a highly eccentric (r_min=1.06R_Jup, r_max=39R_Jup) polar orbit (i=90 deg) to accurately map, among other things, the jovian magnetic and gravitational fields. Such an…
We analytically work out the long-term rates of change of the six osculating Keplerian orbital elements of a test particle acted upon by the Lorentz-violating gravitomagnetic acceleration due to a static body, as predicted by the Standard…
The orbital Lense-Thirring precession is considered in the context of constraints for weak-field General Relativity involving the cosmological constant $\Lambda$. It is shown that according to the current accuracy of satellite measurements…
We examine how the new forthcoming Earth gravity models from the CHAMP and, especially, GRACE missions could improve the measurement of the general relativistic Lense-Thirring effect according to the various kinds of observables which could…
Secular and seasonal variations of the coefficient $J_2$ of the geopotential are studied from the analysis of laser measurements of distances to the geodetic satellites LAGEOS~1 (1988--2003) and LAGEOS~2 (1992--2003). It is confirmed that…
I discuss some aspects of the recent test of frame-dragging performed by me by exploiting the Root-Mean-Square (RMS) orbit overlap differences of the out-of-plane component N of the orbit of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft in the…
Satellite tracking involves sending electromagnetic signals to Earth. Both the orbit of the spacecraft and the electromagnetic signals themselves are affected by the curvature of spacetime. The arrival time of the pulses is compared to the…
General relativistic effects in the weak field approximation are calculated for electromagnetic Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams. The current work is an extension of previous work on the precession of a spinning neutral particle in the weak…
Total precession (geodetic precession and frame dragging) depends on the velocity of each source of gravitation, which means that it depends on the choice of the coordinate system. We consider the latter as an anomaly specifically in the…
The Gravity Probe B (GP-B) satellite experiment will measure the precession of on-board gyroscopes to extraordinary accuracy. Such precessions are predicted by General Relativity (GR), and one component of this precession is the…
According to very recent developments of the LARES mission, which would be devoted to the measurement of the general relativistic Lense--Thirring effect in the gravitational field of the Earth with Satellite Laser Ranging, it seems that the…
According to General Relativity, as distinct from Newtonian gravity, motion under gravity is treated by a theory that deals, initially, only with test particles. At the same time, satellite measurements deal with extended bodies. We discuss…
We explicitly worked out the orbital effects induced on the trajectory of a test particle by the the weak-field approximation of the Kerr-de Sitter metric. It results that the node, the pericentre and the mean anomaly undergo secular…
In this paper we address the following question: do the recent advances in the orbit determination of the major natural satellites of Saturn obtained with the analysis of the first data sets from the Cassini mission allow to detect the…
In the context of the currently ongoing efforts to improve the accuracy and reliability of the measurement of the Lense-Thirring effect in the gravitational field of the Earth it has recently been proposed to use the data from the existing…
LETSGO (LEnse-Thirring Sun-Geo Orbiter) is a proposed space-based mission involving the use of a spacecraft moving along a highly eccentric heliocentric orbit perpendicular to the ecliptic. It aims to accurately measure some important…
An empirical formula recently appeared in the literature to explain the observed anomalies of about $\Delta\dot\rho\approx 1-10$ mm s$^{-1}$ in the geocentric range-rates $\dot\rho$ of the Galileo, NEAR and Rosetta spacecraft at some of…
Gravitomagnetism characterize phenomena in the weak field limit within the context of rotating systems. These are mainly manifested in the geodetic and Lense-Thirring effects. The geodetic effect describes the precession of the spin of a…