Solar system expansion and strong equivalence principle as seen by the NASA MESSENGER mission

Abstract The NASA MESSENGER mission explored the innermost planet of the solar system and obtained a rich data set of range measurements for the determination of Mercury’s ephemeris. Here we use these precise data collected over 7 years to estimate parameters related to general relativity and the evolution of the Sun. These results confirm the validity of the strong equivalence principle with a significantly refined uncertainty of the Nordtvedt parameter η = (−6.6 ± 7.2) × 10 −5 . By assuming a metric theory of gravitation, we retrieved the post-Newtonian parameter β = 1 + (−1.6 ± 1.8) × 10 −5 and the Sun’s gravitational oblateness, $${{J}}_{2 \odot }$$ J 2 ⊙ = (2.246 ± 0.022) × 10 −7 . Finally, we obtain an estimate of the time variation of the Sun gravitational parameter, $$\dot{{G} {{M}}_ \odot} {\mathrm{/}}{{G}}{{M}}_ \odot$$ G M ⊙ ° ∕ G M ⊙ = (−6.13 ± 1.47) × 10 −14 , which is consistent with the expected solar mass loss due to the solar wind and interior processes. This measurement allows us to constrain $$\left| {{\dot{ G}}} \right|{\mathrm{/}}{{G}}$$ G ° ∕ G to be <4 × 10 −14 per year.