Methods of Celestial Mechanics

G. Beutler's Methods of Celestial Mechanics is a coherent textbook for students as well as an excellent reference for practitioners. The first volume gives a thorough treatment of celestial mechanics and presents all the necessary mathematical details that a professional would need. The reader will appreciate the well-written chapters on numerical solution techniques for ordinary differential equations, as well as that on orbit determination. In the second volume applications to the rotation of earth and moon, to artificial earth satellites and to the planetary system are presented. The author addresses all aspects that are of importance in high-tech applications, such as the detailed gravitational fields of all planets and the earth, the oblateness of the earth, the radiation pressure and the atmospheric drag. The concluding part of this monumental treatise explains and details state-of-the-art professional and thoroughly-tested software for celestial mechanics.

• Celestial mechanics
• Computational Astronomy
• Planetary System
• Satellite Orbits
• geodesy
• satellite

From the reviews of the first edition:

"The book is a good treatise on celestial mechanics and applications; it contains many details, and it is very interesting to read. … the book can be a good reference for students under the guidance of a lecturer. … Volume II is essentially devoted to applications in the field of geodesy and the evolution of the planetary system." (Josep J. Masdemont, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2006 j)

• Astronomisches Institut, Universität Bern, Bern, Switzerland

  Gerhard Beutler

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