Rotational Properties of Jupiter Trojans. I. Light Curves of 80 Objects

• Published in: The Astronomical journal Vol. 141; no. 5; pp. 170 - jQuery1323897921317='48'
• Main Authors: Mottola, Stefano, Di Martino, Mario, Erikson, Anders, Gonano-Beurer, Maria, Carbognani, Albino, Carsenty, Uri, Hahn, Gerhard, Schober, Hans-Josef, Lahulla, Felix, Delbò, Marco, Lagerkvist, Claes-Ingvar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States IOP Publishing 01.05.2011; American Astronomical Society
• Subjects: APPROXIMATIONS; ASTEROIDS; asteroids: individual (Jupiter Trojans); ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; CALCULATION METHODS; DATA ANALYSIS; Fysik; JUPITER PLANET; methods: data analysis; methods: observational; minor planets; MOTION; NATURAL SCIENCES; NATURVETENSKAP; Physics; PLANETS; ROTATION; techniques: photometric
• ISSN: 1538-3881; 0004-6256; 1538-3881
• DOI: 10.1088/0004-6256/141/5/170

We present the results of a Jupiter Trojans' light curve survey aimed at characterizing the rotational properties of Trojans in the approximate size range 60-150 km. The survey, which was designed to provide reliable and unbiased estimates of rotation periods and amplitudes, resulted in light curves for a total of 80 objects, 56 of which represent the first determinations published to date and nine of which supersede previously published erroneous values. Our results more than double the size of the existing database of rotational properties of Jovian Trojans in the selected size range. The analysis of the distributions of the rotation periods and light curve amplitudes is the subject of companion papers.