Evidence of the gravitomagnetic field of Mars

TL;DR

This paper presents evidence supporting the existence of Mars's gravitomagnetic field by analyzing spacecraft orbital data, showing a measurable relativistic effect consistent with general relativity within a 6% discrepancy.

Contribution

It provides observational evidence of Mars's gravitomagnetic field through analysis of MGS spacecraft data, aligning with general relativity predictions.

Findings

Measured orbital shift matches relativistic predictions within 6%

Post-fit residuals are consistent with the expected gravitomagnetic effect

No empirical adjustments were needed to detect the relativistic signal

Abstract

According to general relativity, the gravitomagnetic Lense-Thirring force of Mars would secularly shift the orbital plane of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft by an amount of 1.5 m, on average, in the cross-track direction over 5 years. The determined cross-track post-fit residuals of MGS, built up by neglecting just the gravitomagnetic force in the dynamical force models and without fitting any empirical cross-track acceleration which could remove the relativistic signal, amount to 1.6 m, on average, over a 5-years time interval spanning from 10 February 2000 to 14 January 2005. The discrepancy with the predictions of general relativity is 6%.