Icarus's Orbit as the Ultimate Test for the Vulcan Hypothesis and General Relativity

TL;DR

This paper compares methods for calculating perihelion precession, finds that Icarus's orbit challenges classical and relativistic models, and explores a hypothetical Vulcan planet's influence on planetary orbits to test gravitational theories.

Contribution

It introduces a novel comparison of perihelion calculation methods and assesses Vulcan's potential effects, providing a new approach to testing gravitational theories using Icarus's orbit.

Findings

Laplace-Runge-Lenz vector method aligns with observations for Icarus.

Vulcan's hypothetical parameters can mimic relativistic perihelion effects.

Precise Icarus data can confirm or refute Vulcan hypothesis.

Abstract

General Relativity (GR) quantitatively accounts for the anomalous perihelion precession observed in several planets' orbits, with Mercury exhibiting the most significant deviation from Newtonian predictions. In the present work, I carry out an in-depth study comparing methods for calculating perihelion advance of inner planets using two methods, one based on the rotation of the Laplace-Runge-Lentz vector and the other on the evolution of the perihelion longitude. I show that, although the two methods predict almost identical perihelion advances for inner planets according to classical gravitational theory and the general relativity model, they give divergent results for the asteroid Icarus. Comparing numerical calculations of Icarus'perihelion advance with those predicted by Einstein's formula leads to the conclusion that only the method based on the Laplace-Runge-Lenz vector offers a consistent explanation for the behavior of Icarus' perihelion advance. By incorporating the hypothetical planet Vulcan into the Newtonian gravitational model and analyzing its influence on the perihelion advances of the inner planets, I find that carefully selecting Vulcan's mass and orbital parameters yields a delicate balance between its semi-major axis and mass necessary to simultaneously match the observed perihelion advances of the inner planets. Vulcan, orbiting at a semi-major axis of 0.545 AU and possessing about one-third the mass of Mercury, could exert gravitational effects on Earth and Mars comparable to those predicted by GR. This Vulcan would cause an effect on Icarus' perihelion advance approximately nine times greater than the relativistic effect. Thus, precise observational data of Icarus's orbital dynamics offers a definitive means to either rule out this specific Vulcan hypothesis or, conversely, indicate the necessity of further refinement of GR's applications.