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Asteroid Light Curves


During the months of September and October 2003, students in the Advanced Astronomical Laboratory course, under the supervision of Dr. Robert Mutel, observed seventeen asteroids using the Rigel telescope at multiple epochs to determine their rotation periods. The results were submitted to the CALL website and a research paper (PDF) (Word) was submitted to the Minor Planet Bulletin. Click on the plot at right for a larger image.

Movies

We created the following sample movies as animated gifs from some of our observations.

Asteroid 228 (Agathe) - Two asteroids visible! (9 MB)
Asteroid 354 (Eleonora) (7 MB)
Asteroid 373 (Melusina) (8 MB)
Asteroid 575 (Renate) (9 MB)
Asteroid 1171 (Rusthawelia) (14 MB)

Tables

Table 1. Asteroid Periods: Summary of Results

Asteroid

Team

Period (+/-)

Amplitude

Composite Light Curve

Comments

174

E

5.75  ± 0.002

0.42 – 0.60

(PS) (jpg)

known period

228

E

6.47 ± 0.01

0.30

(PS) (jpg)

 

342

C

7.05  ± 0.01

0.14

(PS) (jpg)

 

354

C

4.277 ± 0.002

0.18

(PS) (jpg)

known period

365

D

6.354  ± 0.001

0.16

(PS) (jpg)

asymmetric

373

B

12.97  ± 0.01

0.12

(PS) (jpg)

 

575

D

3.687  ± 0.001

0.19

(PS) (jpg)

known period

707

C

24 (uncertain)

0.15 (?)

(PS) (jpg)

poor data

1084

A

6.19  ± 0.02

0.33

(PS) (jpg)

known period

1171

A

10.98 ± 0.01

0.29

(PS) (jpg)

 

1388

C

11.95 ± 0.01

0.43

(PS) (jpg)

 

1416

B

4.2 ± 0.1

0.1

(PS) (jpg)

known period

1501

A

15.25 ± 0.01

0.28

(PS) (jpg)

 

1544

C

13.7 ± 0.01

0.18

(PS) (jpg)

very noisy

1645

D

4.87  ± 0.01

0.23

(PS) (jpg)

*also worked by Andy Monson

1799

D

6.325  ± 0.001

0.32

(PS) (jpg)

 

2097

E

7.31  ± 0.005

0.35

(PS) (jpg)

 

 

Table 2. Observing Log

Asteroid

Team

Sample Image

Epoch

UT Range

N

Rmag

Filter

Dur

Comments

174

E

174.jpg

1-Oct-03

03:13  – 11:02

84

12.6

R

15

 

11-Oct-03

 04:42 – 10:03

38

12.8

R

30

Moon interference

15-Oct-03

02:24 – 10:52

49

12.9

R

30

 

16-Oct-03

02:09 – 11:20

38

13.1

R

30

 

17-Oct-03

01:44 – 10:32

54

13.1

R

30

 

228

E

228.jpg

16-Oct-03

02:06  – 11:35

39

13.5

R

30

 

17-Oct-03

 01:57 – 11:46

60

13.4

R

30

 

21-Oct-03

02:37 – 06:07

38

13.6

R

30

 

342

C

342.jpg

13-Oct-03

01:51 - 12:00

62

12.6

R

30

Moon glare

14-Oct-03

01:46 – 12:05

62

12.5

R

30

 

16-Oct-03

02:12 – 11:10

27

12.8

R

15

 

19-Oct-03

02:21 – 11:51

58

12.8

R

30

 

354

C

354.jpg

1-Oct-03

04:44 – 09:03

21

11.2

R

15

Known period

2-Oct-03

02:29 – 09:05

37

11

R

30

 

13-Oct-03

01:50 – 08:19

38

11.3

R

30

 

14-Oct-03

02:25 – 08:35

35

11.5

R

30

 

16-Oct-03

02:58 – 08:02

14

11.2

R

15

 

19-Oct-03

02:30 – 08:24

32

11.5

R

30

 

365

D

365.jpg

27-Sep-03

07:17  – 11:40

133

12.8

C

15

 

28-Sep-03

06:03 – 11:33

56

12.3

R

30

 

16-Oct-03

02:10 – 09:19

42

12.6

R

30

 

373

B

373.jpg

29-Sep-03

04:15 – 08:21

68

13.6

R

15

 

13-Oct-03

01:47 – 10:19

23

14

R

15

Hazy

14-Oct-03

01:11 – 09:39

16

13.6

R

15

Hazy

15-Oct-03

03:18 – 10:27

44

13.9

R

15

 

575

D

575.jpg

27-Sep-03

07:18 – 11:30

131

14.1

C

15

Known

28-Sep-03

06:08 – 11:32

54

14

R

30

Known

29-Sep-03

04:13 – 11:01

69

13.9

R

30

Known

707

C

707.jpg

13-Oct-03

01:49 – 12:07

63

13.4

R

30

Moon glare

14-Oct-03

01:54 – 12:12

62

13.1

R

30

 

1084

A

1084.jpg

13-Oct-03

03:50 – 09:25

10

14.1

R

15

 

14-Oct-03

03:39 – 10:58

43

14.2

R

15

 

17-Oct-03

02:28 – 10:22

67

14

R

15

 

1171

A

1171.jpg

19-Oct-03

03:37  – 10:30

84

13.4

R

15

 

20-Oct-03

02:18  – 11:57

41

13

R

15

 

1388

C

1388.jpg

1-Oct-03

05:06 – 11:25

36

15.3

R

15

 

2-Oct-03

03:21 – 09:12

31

12.4

R

30

 

13-Oct-03

03:07 – 10:16

44

15.4

R

30

 

14-Oct-03

02:23 – 10:12

47

15.6

R

30

 

15-Oct-03

03:34 – 10:04

34

15.8

R

15

 

19-Oct-03

02:29 – 10:08

45

16

R

30

 

1416

B

1416.jpg

1-Oct-03

02:34 – 12:11

76

14.5

R

15

 

1501

A

1501.jpg

14-Oct-03

03:21 – 10:59

47

13.7

R

15

 

15-Oct-03

02:46 – 11:24

49

13.9

R

15

 

17-Oct-03

02:28 – 11:26

73

14

R

15

 

1544

C

1544.jpg

13-Oct-03

01:53 – 10:51

55

15.2

R

30

 

14-Oct-03

01:58 – 10:56

53

15

R

30

 

15-Oct-03

03:45 – 10:44

35

15

R

15

 

16-Oct-03

02:23 – 10:41

29

15.3

R

15

 

19-Oct-03

02:25 – 10:42

53

15.6

R

30

 

1645

D

1645.jpg

16-Oct-03

02:07 - 10:55

59

14.2

R

30

 

17-Oct-03

02:19 - 10:33

100

14.4

C

20

 

1799

D

1799.jpg

1-Oct-03

03:21 – 12:02

64

15.4

R

15

 

2-Oct-03

03:54 – 10:38

47

15.3

R

20

 

16-Oct-03

03:49 – 10:17

38

15.7

R

30

 

17-Oct-03

02:14 – 09:44

45

15.6

C

20

 

2097

E

2097.jpg

30-Sep-03

03:18  – 11:21

98

14.6

R

30

 

11-Oct-03

 04:51 – 10:15

50

15.5

R

30

Moon interference

15-Oct-03

02:26 – 10:56

50

15.4

R

30

 

17-Oct-03

01:51 – 10:40

55

15.2

R

30

 

 

 

Last updated November 23, 2003