Vulcan and anomalous displacement of Mercury's perihelion

Abstract

In this paper, I re-examine the question of a possible explanation of the anomalous advance of Mercury's perihelion by the existence of the hypothetical planet Vulcan proposed by Le Verrier, whose orbit would be located inside the orbit of Mercury. My calculations are focused on the optimization of the orbital parameters of Vulcan in order to explain precisely the anomalous advance of Mercury's perihelion. To reach this goal, I used recent experimental results concerning the observations of the intra-mercurian zone. My calculations establish the direct relation of the anomalous advance of Mercury's perihelion with the mass of Vulcan and its distance to Mercury.