Combining Asteroid Models Derived by Lightcurve Inversion With
Combining asteroid models derived by lightcurve inversion with asteroidal occultation silhouettes Josef Durechˇ a,∗, Mikko Kaasalainenb, David Heraldc, David Dunhamd, Brad Timersone, Josef Hanuˇsa, Eric Frappaf, John Talbotg, Tsutomu Hayamizuh, Brian D. Warneri, Frederick Pilcherj, Adri´an Gal´adk,l aAstronomical Institute, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, V Holeˇsoviˇck´ach 2, CZ-18000 Prague, Czech Republic bDepartment of Mathematics, Tampere University of Technology, P.O. Box 553, 33101 Tampere, Finland c3 Lupin Pl, Murrumbateman, NSW, Australia dInternational Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) and KinetX, Inc., 7913 Kara Ct., Greenbelt, MD 20770, USA eInternational Occultation Timing Association (IOTA), 623 Bell Rd., Newark, NY, USA f1 bis cours Jovin Bouchard 42000 Saint-Etienne, France gOccultation Section, Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand, P.O. Box 3181, Wellington, New Zealand hJapan Occultation Information Network (JOIN), Sendai Space Hall, 2133-6 Nagatoshi, Kagoshima pref, Japan iPalmer Divide Observatory, 17955 Bakers Farm Rd., Colorado Springs, CO 80908, USA j4438 Organ Mesa Loop, Las Cruces, NM 88011, USA kModra Observatory, FMFI Comenius University, 842 48 Bratislava, Slovakia lOndˇrejov Observatory, AV CR,ˇ 251 65 Ondˇrejov, Czech Republic Abstract Asteroid sizes can be directly measured by observing occultations of stars by asteroids. When there are enough observations across the path of the shadow, the asteroid’s projected silhouette can be reconstructed. Asteroid shape models derived from photometry by the lightcurve inversion method enable us to predict the orientation of an asteroid for the time of occultation. By scaling the shape model to fit the occultation chords, we can determine the asteroid size with a relative accuracy of typically ∼ 10%.
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