Abstract

CRUZ, Fidel  and  AGUILAR, Luis A.. Tidal Heating: A Restricted three Body Problem Investigation of the spitzer and Weinberg Approximations. Rev. mex. astron. astrofis [online]. 2007, vol.43, n.1, pp.89-94. ISSN 0185-1101.

We study the tidal heating of globular clusters using the restricted three body approximation. Our results are more consistent with the Spitzer correction for adiabaticity than with the Gnedin and Ostriker formula for the Weinberg correction. From these results we conclude that the Spitzer approximation is valid for clusters in orbits with high eccentricity. We find that a simple linear scaling of the effect after one tidal shock greatly underestimates the actual effect after repeated shocks.

Keywords : CELESTIAL MECHANICS; GLOBULAR CLUSTERS: GENERAL; METHODS: NUMERICAL; STELLAR DYNAMICS.