Symmetry, reduction and relative equilibria of a rigid body in the J2 problem Original Research Article

The J2 problem is an important problem in celestial mechanics, orbital dynamics and orbital design of spacecraft, as non-spherical mass distribution of the celestial body is taken into account. In this paper, the J2 problem is generalized to the motion of a rigid body in a J2 gravitational field. The relative equilibria are studied by using geometric mechanics. A Poisson reduction process is carried out by means of the symmetry. Non-canonical Hamiltonian structure and equations of motion of the reduced system are obtained. The basic geometrical properties of the relative equilibria are given through some analyses on the equilibrium conditions. Then we restrict to the zeroth and second-order approximations of the gravitational potential. Under these approximations, the existence and detailed properties of the relative equilibria are investigated. The orbit–rotation coupling of the rigid body is discussed. It is found that under the second-order approximation, there exists a classical type of relative equilibria except when the rigid body is near the surface of the central body and the central body is very elongated. Another non-classical type of relative equilibria can exist when the central body is elongated enough and has a low average density. The non-classical type of relative equilibria in our paper is distinct from the non-Lagrangian relative equilibria in the spherically-simplified Full Two Body Problem, which cannot exist under the second-order approximation. Our results also extend the previous results on the classical type of relative equilibria in the spherically-simplified Full Two Body Problem by taking into account the oblateness of the primary body. The results on relative equilibria are useful for studies on the motion of many natural satellites, whose motion are close to the relative equilibria.