Influence of Mass-Loss on the Orbit of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9

Using the Jeans problem and the Fermi problem of two bodies with variable masses, the influence of solar and cometary mass-loss on the orbit of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (SL9) is discussed in this paper. It is shown that solar and cometary mass-loss both will cause the secular and periodic terms in the semimajor axis a of comet SL9. The influence of solar mass-loss on the orbit of comet SL9 is very small and it may be omitted. But the influence of mass-loss of comet SL9 itself on its orbit is large and it may cause the secular variation in a to be about l0⁴ km every year. The cometary mass-loss will obviously influence the time and place of the comet SL9 crashing into Jupiter.