Every three years the IAU/IAG Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements revises tables giving the directions of the north poles of rotation and the prime meridians of the planets, satellites, and asteroids. This report introduces a system of cartographic coordinates for asteroids and comets. A topographic reference surface for Mars is recommended. Tables for the rotational elements of the planets and satellites and size and shape of the planets and satellites are not included, since there were no changes to the values. They are available in the previous report (Celest. Mech. Dyn. Astron., 82, 83-110, 2002), a version of which is also available on a web site.
The IAU Working Group on Precession and the Equinox looked at several solutions for replacing the precession part of the IAU 2000A precession-nutation model, which is not consistent with dynamical theory. These comparisons show that the (Capitaine et al., Astron. Astrophys., 412, 2003a) precession theory, P03, is both consistent with dynamical theory and the solution most compatible with the IAU 2000A nutation model. Thus, the working group recommends the adoption of the P03 precession theory for use with the IAU 2000A nutation. The two greatest sources of uncertainty in the precession theory are the rate of change of the Earth's dynamical flattening, J 2 , and the precession rates (i.e. the constants of integration used in deriving the precession). The combined uncertainties limit the accuracy in the precession theory to approximately 2 mas cent −2 .Given that there are difficulties with the traditional angles used to parameterize the precession, z A , ζ A , and θ A , the working group has decided that the choice of parameters should be left to the user. We provide a consistent set of parameters that may be used with either the traditional rotation matrix, or those rotation matrices described in (Capitaine et al., Astron. Astrophys., 412, 2003a) and (Fukushima Astron. J., 126, 2003).We recommend that the ecliptic pole be explicitly defined by the mean orbital angular momentum vector of the Earth-Moon barycenter in the Barycentric Celestial Reference System (BCRS), and explicitly state that this definition is being used to avoid confusion with previous definitions of the ecliptic. 352 J. L. HILTON ET AL.Finally, we recommend that the terms precession of the equator and precession of the ecliptic replace the terms lunisolar precession and planetary precession, respectively.
Context. The development of precise numerical integrations of the motion of the planets, taking into account the most recent observations, lead us to improve the two families of analytical planetary theories built in the Institut de mécanique céleste et de calcul des éphémérides (IMCCE), the Variations Séculaires des Orbites Planétaires (VSOP) and the Theory of the Outer Planets (TOP) theories. Aims. We have built the solutions VSOP2010 and TOP2010 fitted to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) numerical integration DE405 and the solutions VSOP2013 and TOP2013 fitted to the European recent numerical integration INPOP10a. This paper specifically considers VSOP2013 and TOP2013. Methods. We have improved the construction of VSOP by analytically computing the pertubations due to the asteroids and to Pluto. We have increased the precision of the VSOP solutions of Jupiter and Saturn by using TOP solutions. We have also improved the construction of TOP by computing the perturbations due to the telluric planets from VSOP solutions. Moreover, TOP contains a solution of the motion of the Pluto-Charon barycenter.
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