On the Bessel Solution of Kepler’s Equation

Abstract

Since its introduction in 1650, Kepler’s equation has never ceased to fascinate mathematicians, scientists, and engineers. Over the course of five centuries, a large number of different solution strategies have been devised and implemented. Among them, the one originally proposed by J. L. Lagrange and later by F. W. Bessel still continue to be a source of mathematical treasures. Here, the Bessel solution of the elliptic Kepler equation is explored from a new perspective offered by the theory of the Stieltjes series. In particular, it has been proven that a complex Kapteyn series obtained directly by the Bessel expansion is a Stieltjes series. This mathematical result, to the best of our knowledge, is a new integral representation of the KE solution. Some considerations on possible extensions of our results to more general classes of the Kapteyn series are also presented.