WISE data and sparse photometry used for shape reconstruction of asteroids

Abstract

Abstract. Asteroid disk-integrated sparse-in-time photometry can be used for determination of shapes and spin states of asteroids by the lightcurve inversion method. To clearly distinguish the correct solution of the rotation period from other minima in the parameter space, data with good photometric accuracy are needed. We show that if the low-quality sparse photometry obtained from ground-based astrometric surveys is combined with data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite, the correct rotation period can be successfully derived. Although WISE observed in mid-IR wavelengths, we show that for the period and spin determination, these data can be modelled as reflected light. The absolute fluxes are not required since only relative variation of the flux over the rotation is sufficient to determine the period. We also discuss the potential of combining all WISE data with the Lowell photometric database to create physical models of thousands of asteroids.