DOI

The theory of equilibrium figures was actively developed in the 19th century, when it was found that the observed massive celestial bodies (the Sun, planets, and satellites) had an almost ellipsoidal form. The existence of exactly ellipsoidal figures was also established. The gravitational potential of these figures is represented by a Laplace series with its coefficients (Stokes’ constants In) determined by some integral operator. The general term of the series was found for a homogeneous ellipsoid of revolution and the first terms of the series were found for some other mass distributions. Here, we have obtained the general term of the series for an arbitrary mass distribution given that the equidensites (surfaces of equal density) are homothetic to the outer surface of the ellipsoid of revolution. Simple estimates and an asymptotics of In have also been obtained.

Язык оригиналаанглийский
Страницы (с-по)318-324
Число страниц7
ЖурналVestnik St. Petersburg University: Mathematics
Том50
Номер выпуска3
DOI
СостояниеОпубликовано - 1 июл 2017

    Предметные области Scopus

  • Математика (все)

ID: 15489483