Lunar Degree-2 Tidal Love Number Determination Based on Combination of Four-way Radiometric Tracking and LLR Data
Lunar tidal Love numbers ( ${k}_{2}$ , ${h}_{2}$ , and ${l}_{2}$ ), critical for understanding lunar interior structures, are traditionally derived from methods such as lunar spacecraft radiometric tracking, Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), and laser altimetry. The Chang’e 7 lander is expected to carry a...
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2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/adb60b |
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| author | Chongyang Wang Jianguo Yan Shangbiao Sun Denggao Qiu Jean-Pierre Barriot |
| author_facet | Chongyang Wang Jianguo Yan Shangbiao Sun Denggao Qiu Jean-Pierre Barriot |
| author_sort | Chongyang Wang |
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| description | Lunar tidal Love numbers ( ${k}_{2}$ , ${h}_{2}$ , and ${l}_{2}$ ), critical for understanding lunar interior structures, are traditionally derived from methods such as lunar spacecraft radiometric tracking, Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), and laser altimetry. The Chang’e 7 lander is expected to carry a radio transponder and a retroreflector. In order to assess the ability of the Chang’e 7 data to constrain these Love numbers, we conducted a numerical simulation based on a four-way relay tracking model in terms of different orbital inclinations, varying lander positions (nearside, south pole, and farside of the Moon), combined with LLR. Our simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the Chang’e 7 in determining tidal Love numbers, with a particular advantage for ${h}_{2}$ and ${l}_{2}$ . By combining the LLR data from the nearside and the south pole of the Moon as well as the four-way lander tracking data of Chang’e 7, the formal uncertainties of ${h}_{2}$ and ${l}_{2}$ are better than ${10}^{-4}$ , which is nearly 1 order of magnitude higher than the existing accuracy estimated by LLR alone ( ${10}^{-3}$ ). For the lunar south pole region, four-way radiometric ranging can still offer higher sensitivity and a longer observation time compared to LLR. This is evident for measurements of ${h}_{2}$ , despite the fact that radiometric ranging precision is an order of magnitude lower than that of LLR. This type of observation not only complements laser altimetry and LLR but also holds potential for application to other celestial bodies (e.g., Ganymede, Callisto, Mars) capable of supporting a landed mission. |
| format | Article |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
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| series | The Astronomical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-57683cc028bd44df9cf29aab432a25d42025-08-20T02:03:05ZengIOP PublishingThe Astronomical Journal1538-38812025-01-01169419010.3847/1538-3881/adb60bLunar Degree-2 Tidal Love Number Determination Based on Combination of Four-way Radiometric Tracking and LLR DataChongyang Wang0Jianguo Yan1Shangbiao Sun2Denggao Qiu3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4388-9634Jean-Pierre Barriot4State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University , 129 Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China ; jgyan@whu.edu.cnState Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University , 129 Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China ; jgyan@whu.edu.cn; Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Urumqi 830011, People’s Republic of ChinaState Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University , 129 Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China ; jgyan@whu.edu.cnState Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University , 129 Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China ; jgyan@whu.edu.cnState Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University , 129 Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China ; jgyan@whu.edu.cn; Geodesy Observatory of Tahiti, University of French Polynesia , BP 6570, Faa’a 98702, Tahiti, French PolynesiaLunar tidal Love numbers ( ${k}_{2}$ , ${h}_{2}$ , and ${l}_{2}$ ), critical for understanding lunar interior structures, are traditionally derived from methods such as lunar spacecraft radiometric tracking, Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), and laser altimetry. The Chang’e 7 lander is expected to carry a radio transponder and a retroreflector. In order to assess the ability of the Chang’e 7 data to constrain these Love numbers, we conducted a numerical simulation based on a four-way relay tracking model in terms of different orbital inclinations, varying lander positions (nearside, south pole, and farside of the Moon), combined with LLR. Our simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the Chang’e 7 in determining tidal Love numbers, with a particular advantage for ${h}_{2}$ and ${l}_{2}$ . By combining the LLR data from the nearside and the south pole of the Moon as well as the four-way lander tracking data of Chang’e 7, the formal uncertainties of ${h}_{2}$ and ${l}_{2}$ are better than ${10}^{-4}$ , which is nearly 1 order of magnitude higher than the existing accuracy estimated by LLR alone ( ${10}^{-3}$ ). For the lunar south pole region, four-way radiometric ranging can still offer higher sensitivity and a longer observation time compared to LLR. This is evident for measurements of ${h}_{2}$ , despite the fact that radiometric ranging precision is an order of magnitude lower than that of LLR. This type of observation not only complements laser altimetry and LLR but also holds potential for application to other celestial bodies (e.g., Ganymede, Callisto, Mars) capable of supporting a landed mission.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/adb60bLunar science |
| spellingShingle | Chongyang Wang Jianguo Yan Shangbiao Sun Denggao Qiu Jean-Pierre Barriot Lunar Degree-2 Tidal Love Number Determination Based on Combination of Four-way Radiometric Tracking and LLR Data The Astronomical Journal Lunar science |
| title | Lunar Degree-2 Tidal Love Number Determination Based on Combination of Four-way Radiometric Tracking and LLR Data |
| title_full | Lunar Degree-2 Tidal Love Number Determination Based on Combination of Four-way Radiometric Tracking and LLR Data |
| title_fullStr | Lunar Degree-2 Tidal Love Number Determination Based on Combination of Four-way Radiometric Tracking and LLR Data |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lunar Degree-2 Tidal Love Number Determination Based on Combination of Four-way Radiometric Tracking and LLR Data |
| title_short | Lunar Degree-2 Tidal Love Number Determination Based on Combination of Four-way Radiometric Tracking and LLR Data |
| title_sort | lunar degree 2 tidal love number determination based on combination of four way radiometric tracking and llr data |
| topic | Lunar science |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/adb60b |
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