The paper extends the known solution of the Main Problem to include the effects of the higher spherical harmonics of the geopotential. The von Zeipel method is used to calculate the secular variations of orderJmand the long-periodic variations of ordersJm/J2andnJm,λ/ω. HereJmandJm,λare the coefficients of the zonal and the tesseral harmonics respectively, withJm,0=Jm, andωis the angular velocity of the Earth's rotation. With the aid of the theory of spherical harmonics the results are expressed in a most compact form.
