Physical properties of asteroids using the WFCAM Transit Survey and the Virtual Observatory

Description

We describe here a methodology to identify asteroids serendipitously observed in large-area astronomical surveys using Virtual Observatory tools such as SkyBoT, TOPCAT, and STILTS. The application of this method on the WFCAM Transit Survey is demonstrated. We provide almost 15,000 accurate positions (mean RMS 0.15 arcsec) and J-band magnitudes (typical accuracy of 0.11 mag) for over 1600 asteroids. From the repeated observations we build light curves and use them to determine the asteroid fundamental physical parameters, such as their rotational period or their multiplicity.

Abstract

International audience

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