Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T14:37:45.924Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rotation of the Earth From Lunar Laser Ranging

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

R. B. Langley ,
R. W. King ,
P. J. Morgan  and
I. I. Shapiro
R. B. Langley
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 02139U.S.A.
R. W. King
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 02139U.S.A.
P. J. Morgan
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 02139U.S.A.
I. I. Shapiro
Affiliation:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 02139U.S.A.

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We have extended our estimates of variation of latitude and UTO from the McDonald Observatory lunar laser ranging (LLR) observations to span the period October 1970 to November 1980. The typical formal uncertainties of our values are about 6 milliarcseconds (mas) and 0.5 milliseconds (ms) of time, respectively. We have compared our values of variation of latitude with those derived from the smoothed Circular D pole positions published by the Bureau International de l’Heure. The root-mean-square (rms) difference about the mean difference is 14 mas. A comparison of our smoothed UTO estimates with those calculated from the smoothed Circular D values of UT1 and pole position gives a corresponding rms difference of 1.5 ms. For the period covered by the MERIT Short Campaign, we have also compared our smoothed UTO values with (unsmoothed) ones derived from daily UT1 and pole-position values obtained by the Goddard Space Flight Center / Massachusetts Institute of Technology / Haystack Observatory group from very-long-baseline interferometric observations spanning two one-week periods. The rms difference about the mean difference is 0.3 ms.

Type
Part I
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 63: High-Precision Earth Rotation and Earth-Moon Dynamics , May 1981 , pp. 25 - 29
Copyright
Copyright © Reidel 1982

References

Cappallo, R.J.: 1980, “The Rotation of the Moon,” Mass. Inst. of Technol., Cambridge, MA (Ph.D. Thesis).Google Scholar
King, R.W., Counselman III, C. C. and Shapiro, I. I.: 1978, J. Geophys.Res. 83, pp. 3377–3381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langley, R.B., King, R. W., and Shapiro, I. I.: 1981a, “Earth Rotation from Lunar Laser Ranging”, J. Geophys. Res. (in press).Google Scholar
Langley, R.B., King, R. W., and Shapiro, I. I.: 1981b, in the Bureau International de l’Heure Annual Report for 1980, Paris.Google Scholar
Lieske, J.H., Lederle, T., Fricke, W. and Morando, B.: 1977, Astron. Astrophys. 58, pp. 1–16.Google Scholar
Ma, C: 1981, EOS, Trans. Am. Geophys. Un. 62, p. 260 (abstract).Google Scholar
Müller, E.A., and Jappel, A. (eds.): 1977, Transactions of the International Astronomical Union Vol. XVIB 1976, Proceedings of the 16th General Assembly, Grenoble, 1976, D. Reidel, Dordrecht.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shelus, P.J.: 1976-1981, “Lunar Laser Ranging Data Deposited in the National Space Science Data Center,” a series of reports by the Department of Astronomy and McDonald Observatory, University of Texas, Austin, TX.Google Scholar
Stolz, A., Bender, P. L., Faller, J.E., Silverberg, E.C., Mulholland, J.D., Shelus, P.J., Williams, J. G., Carter, W. E., Currie, D.G., Kaula, W.M.: 1976, Science 193, pp. 997–999.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wahr, J. M.: 1981, Geophys. J. R. Astron. Soc. 64, pp. 705–727.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilkins, G. A. (ed.): 1980, “Project MERIT,” Joint Working Group on the Determination of the Rotation of the Earth, International Astronomical Union and International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, Royal Greenwich Observatory, Hailsham.Google Scholar
Woolard, E.W.: 1959, Astron. J. 64, pp. 140–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar