Celestial Mechanics theme is a component of Encyclopedia of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias.

This volume provides an exhaustive background on classical topics and recent developments in Celestial Mechanics and their applications to Astrodynamics. Celestial Mechanics is devoted to the study of the motion of the celestial bodies which influence each other, mainly due to the gravitational law. This discipline been grew together with humankind: the computation of the succession of seasons was of fundamental importance for the survival of human race, the prediction of the phenomena of the sky like eclipses is as old as Babylonian people, the determination of the position of a ship in the sea relied on the knowledge of the position of stars and planets. These are just a few reasons which led scientists to study the dynamics of the celestial bodies and to develop cosmological models.

The volume covers a very large spectrum of topics and they offer a wide panorama of the classical and modern aspects of this discipline. All chapters, authored by outstanding specialists in the field, are written at university level and can be used by undergraduate students as well as by graduate students and researchers for an exhaustive approach to Celestial Mechanics.

Editor(s) Biography

Alessandra Celletti (born in 1962 in Rome, Italy) received her Master degree in 1984 at the University of Roma La Sapienza under the supervision of G. Gallavotti and her PhD at the ETH in Zürich, Switzerland, in 1989 under the supervision of J. Moser and J. Waldvogel. She is full professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. She was founder president of the Italian Society of Celestial Mechanics and Astrodynamics, and director of the master course on “Space Science and Technology” at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. In 2017 she has been elected editor-in-chief of “Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy”. She is member of the “Celestial Mechanics Institute”, vice-president of the Organizing Committee of the “International Astronomical Union Commission 7: Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy”, member of the EMS/EWM Scientific Committee. Her research interests concern Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Systems, with particular reference to KAM theory for conservative systems, KAM theory for dissipative systems, computer–assisted proofs, rotational dynamics, the three–body problem and the stability of the Lagrangian solutions.