CAOSP abstracts, Volume: 43, No.: 3, year: 2014

Abstract: Despite very valuable information from space missions (NEAR, Hayabusa,...) extremely important data about asteroids are provided by photometric observations from ground-based telescopes. Because observations are so time-consuming, small telescopes (<2 m) at professional observatories are mostly used. The Community of amateur astronomers also perform extraordinary precise work using even smaller telescopes (>0.2 m).

The results of short-term photometry are the rotational period and the amplitude of changes of brightness in a variety of solar phase angles. Medium-term photometry is able to cover eclipses/occultations of binary asteroids very well and to determine the parameters of the primary and the satellite. Long-term photometry detects amplitude variations in different apparitions, determines the direction of rotation axes and the sense of rotation and helps to create a 3D model of the asteroid's shape. By using photometric data from a wider time interval we can study the thermal YORP effect, which affects the trajectory and rotation of asteroids (mainly NEAs). It can be used also in the photometric survey of the paired asteroids.