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KASPAR Project for Astrometric and Photometric Observations of Asteroids KASPAR Project for Astrometric and Photometric Observations of Asteroids E. Kuznetsov, J. Vibe, D. Glamazda, G. Kaiser, A. Perminov, and A. Shagabutdinov Ural Federal University, Ekaterinburg, Russia, [email protected] Abstract. At the SBG telescope of the Kourovka Astronomical Ob- servatory of the Ural Federal University is carried out the astrometric and photometric observations of asteroids. The accuracy of SBG obser- vations of main-belt asteroids with precisely determined orbits depends on their brightness and varies from 0.0600 (11.5 mag) to 0.400 (18.5 mag). The photometric observations have the accuracy from 0.05 to 0.10 mag. The software for observations processing and orbit improving are de- scribed. The results of the astrometric and photometric observations for the asteroids are presented. Keywords: astrometry; techniques: photometric; minor planets, aster- oids: general DOI:10.26119/978-5-6045062-0-2 2020 189 1 Introduction This research is part of the Kourovka Asteroid Pairs Research (KASPAR) project that started in Kourovka Astronomical Observatory of the Ural Federal University (KAO UrFU) in September 2017 (Kuznetsov & Safronova 2018). The KASPAR project includes not only the observational side, involving astrometric and photometric observations of asteroid pairs on close orbits, but also its the- oretical and computational counterpart involving numerical simulations of the dynamical evolution of asteroids that take the Yarkovsky effect into account to calculate their proper orbital elements. The paper outline follows. In Section 2, we describe the telescopes, detectors, and software as well as discuss the accuracy of the astrometric and photometric observations. The results of the astrometric and photometric observations are presented in Section 3. We discus the results and formulate the research topics at the future in Section 4. Kuznetsov et al. 2 SBG Telescope The SBG telescope of KAO UrFU is the four-axis telescope with a 0.76 m focal length is equipped with a Schmidt optical system and a 0.42 m diameter primary mirror. The telescope was upgraded in 2005–2006 years (Glamazda 2012b). An Alta U32 CCD camera with a KAF-3200ME-1 CCD matrix containing 2184 1472 elements, each of size 6.8 6.8 µm is mounted at the main telescope focus.× The scale of the CCD image is× 1.8 arcsec/pixel. The field of view of the system is 650 440. Limiting magnitude is 19 mag. Observations with filters of the wideband× UBVRI system are available. The precision timing system uses a 12- channel GPS receiver Acutime 2000 GPS Smart Antenna. The SBG telescope and the CCD system are operated by the SBGControl software (Glamazda 2012a) developed at AO UrFU. Astrometric processing of the observations has been made using IzmCCD (Izmailov et al. 2010) and AM:PM (Krushinsky 2017) Software Packages. We used the IDA (Bykova et al. 2012) Software Package to improve the orbital elements of the asteroids. Astrometric and photometric observations of asteroids have been made with the filters V and R. The accuracy of astrometric observations is analyzed in papers Kaiser & Wiebe (2017) and Kuznetsov et al. (2018). The astrometry root- mean-square (RMS) residuals (O–C) for equatorial coordinates consist of 0.0100 − 0.300 for bright objects when the magnitude is less than 18.5 mag and 0.500 0.700 for faint objects with magnitude from 18.5 to 19 mag. The RMS residuals (O–C)− for equatorial coordinates is increased for the NEO and potentially hazardous asteroids (PHA). In case of the angular velocity of NEO is less than 0.500/min, the astrometry RMS residuals (O–C) comprised of 0.100 0.500 for bright NEO − when the magnitude is less than 16.5 mag, and 0.900 1.000 for faint objects with magnitude from 16.5 to 18 mag. The astrometry RMS− residuals (O–C) consist of 0.500 0.600 for NEO with magnitude from 9.5 to 11.5 mag and angular velocity − from 2000 to 4000 per minute. The comparison with the Minor Planet Center data shows that residual differences (O-C) are less than 100 for more than 95% observations which carried out at the SBG telescope. Photometry RMS errors consist of 0.05 mag for bright objects when the magnitude is less than 16.5 mag, and 0.07 0.15 mag for faint objects with the magnitudes from 16.5 to 18 mag. − 3 Results The Extended KASPAR program includes observations of pairs of asteroids in close orbits, non-Vestoid V-type asteroids, asteroids affected by the Lidov-Kozai effect, and near-Earth asteroids. Positional observations are carried out with the aim of obtaining high-precision improved orbital elements, which will be used as 190 KASPAR Project Table 1. Number of observed asteroids and nights during 2019–2020 Program Astrometric observations Photometric observations Asteroids Nights Asteroids Nights Pairs of asteroids 7 16 7 16 V-type asteroids 4 8 4 8 Lidov-Kozai effect 3 14 3 14 Near-Earth asteroids 29 45 7 27 initial data for numerical modeling in obtaining estimates of the semiaxis drift velocity due to the Yarkovsky effect. Photometric observations are carried out to determine the direction of rotation of the asteroids (and the direction of the major semiaxis drift) based on the minimum drift method: when the asteroid rotates clockwise, the synodic period at the moment of opposition is minimal and vice versa. Table 1 presents astrometric and photometric (in V and R filters) observations of asteroids were performed at the SBG telescope in 2019–2020. Improved orbital elements, color indices and estimates of axial rotation periods are obtained. The color indexes are given in the table 2. Table 2. Color indexes Asteroid B–V [mag] V–R [mag] (1979) Sakharov — 0.33 0.20 ± (2102) Tantalus — 0.46 0.10 ± (2823) van der Laan — 0.48 0.20 ± (3009) Coventry — 0.43 0.20 ± (3040) Kozai 0.96 0.12 0.47 0.10 ± ± (3200) Phaethon 0.61 0.22 0.35 0.14 ± ± (4130) Ramanujan — 0.37 0.14 ± (5235) Jean-Loup — 0.41 0.14 ± (8836) Aquifolium — 0.36 0.20 ± (19021) 2000 SC8 — 0.46 0.20 ± (52768) 1998 OR2 — 0.38 0.06 ± (65690) 1991 DG — 0.25 0.14 ± (163373) 2002 PZ39 — 0.43 0.14 ± (388945) 2008 TZ3 — 0.41 0.10 ± 191 Kuznetsov et al. 4 Discussion and Conclusions Orbit evolution modeling of paired asteroids provides information about the dy- namics of the objects at the moments of close encounters, an age of pairs, and, perhaps, the mechanisms of their formation: collision disruption, YORP-fission, binary or multiple breakups, incidental approach, etc. Accurate evaluation of past approach conditions between asteroids sharing close orbits requires pre- cise initial conditions as additional awareness of their sizes, shapes, spin axes obliquity, surface thermal properties, etc. Intense positional and photometrical observations of asteroid pairs are needed for this task. Such observations could be implemented in Kourovka Astronomical Observatory of the Ural Federal Uni- versity. We are planning to improve the estimations of the asteroid pairs ages using the evaluations of the semimajor axis drift rates due to the Yarkovsky effect. Acknowledgements. This work was supported by RFBR according to the re- search project 18-02-00015. Bibliography Bykova, L. E., Galushina, T. Y., & Baturin, A. P. 2012, Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenij. Fizika, 55, 89 Glamazda, D. V. 2012a, Astrophysical Bulletin, 67, 237 Glamazda, D. V. 2012b, Astrophysical Bulletin, 67, 230 Izmailov, I. S., Khovricheva, M. L., Khovrichev, M. Y., et al. 2010, Astronomy Letters, 36, 349 Kaiser, G. T. & Wiebe, Y. Z. 2017, Solar System Research, 51, 233 Krushinsky, V. V. 2017, in Physics of Space: Proceedings of the 47th Student Scientific Conference, ed. E. D. Kuznetsov, D. S. Wiebe, A. B. Ostrovsky, S. V. Salij, A. M. Sobolev, K. V. Kholshevnikov, & B. M. Shustov, 205–206 Kuznetsov, E., Glamazda, D., Kaiser, G., & Wiebe, Y. 2018, in IAU Symposium, Vol. 330, Astrometry and Astrophysics in the Gaia Sky, ed. A. Recio-Blanco, P. de Laverny, A. G. A. Brown, & T. Prusti, 403–404 Kuznetsov, E. & Safronova, V. 2018, Planet. Space Sci., 157, 22 192.
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