Recent Attempts to Measure the General Relativistic Lense-Thirring Effect with Natural and Artificial Bodies in the Solar System

Abstract

According to general relativity, a spinning body of mass M and angular momentum S, like a star or a planet, generates a gravitomagnetic field which induces, among other phenomena, also the Lense-Thirring effect, i.e. secular precessions of the path of a test particle orbiting it. Direct and indisputable tests of such a relativistic prediction are still missing. We discuss some performed attempts to measure it in the gravitational fields of several bodies in the Solar System with natural and artificial objects. The focus is on the realistic evaluation of the impact of some competing classical forces regarded as sources of systematic uncertainties degrading the total accuracy obtainable.