2010/12/16 by Roman Ya. Kezerashvili, Kezerashvili, Roman Ya., Justin F. Vazquez-Poritz +2
Physics and Astronomy · #Experimental and Theoretical Physics Studies #FOS: Physical sciences #History and Developments in Astronomy #Relativity and Gravitational Theory #Space Physics (physics.space-ph) #physics.space-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1012.3574
13 pages, 8 figures. Published in the Proc. of the Second International Symposium on Solar Sailing (ISSS 2010). New York, USA, 20-22 July, 2010. Editor: R.Ya. Kezerashvili, pp. 157-162, 2010
arxiv created 2010/12/16 · openalex publication_date 2010/12/16 · arxiv updated 2010/12/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We consider a special relativistic effect, known as the Poynting-Robertson effect, on various types of trajectories of solar sails. Since this effect occurs at order vϕ/c, where vϕ is the tangential speed relative to the sun, it can dominate over other special relativistic effects, which occur at order v2/c2. While solar radiation can be used to propel the solar sail, the absorbed portion of it also gives rise to a drag force in the tangential direction. For escape trajectories, this diminishes the cruising velocity, which can have a cumulative effect on the heliocentric distance. For a solar sail directly facing the sun in a bound orbit, the Poynting-Robertson effect decreases its orbital speed, thereby causing it to slowly spiral towards the sun. We also consider this effect for non-Keplerian orbits in which the solar sail is tilted in the azimuthal direction. While in principle the drag force could be counter-balanced by an extremely small tilt of the solar sail in the polar direction, periodic adjustments are more feasible.