Abstract
This paper studies the possibility of lunar capture depending on variations of the solar mass under certain well specified conditions and assumptions regarding the behaviour of the three-body dynamical system formed by the Sun, Earth and Moon. It is found that a large amount of decrease in the solar mass (approximately 37%) would be required to allow capture if the model of the planar restricted problem of three bodies is assumed, if the masses of the Earth and Moon did not change and if the angular momentum of the Sun-Earth system did not change. Such large mass-changes of the Sun can not be associated with radiation mass losses only with catastrophic events, such as stellar close approaches.
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Szebehely, V., Evans, R.T. On the capture of the Moon. Celestial Mechanics 21, 259–264 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01230224
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01230224