DETERMINAÇÃO E ANÁLISE DE CURVAS DE FASE DE OBJETOS EM ÓRBITAS PRÓXIMAS DA TERRA PARA O ESTUDO DE SUAS PROPRIEDADES FÍSICAS

Abstract

The observation of near-Earth objects (NEOs) allows us to study the physical characteristics of the smallest bodies in our Solar System, as well as to impose restrictions on their origin and evolution. Among the various physical properties of a small body, the way its surface reflects light according to the angle of illumination, the so-called photometric phase curve, is of paramount importance. A phase curve is defined as the adjustment of the reduced magnitudes of an asteroid measured at different solar phase angles that provide us with the H, G1 e G2 parameters of the curve. Together these parameters can provide information about size, compositional properties, texture and roughness. In this work we will present the results obtained from the study of the phase curve of 31 NEO through observations with the Observatório Astronômico de Sertão de Itaparica (Brasil), with some NEOs also observed in the Osservatorio di Campo Imperatore (Italy). As result, we will show data processing methods to obtain more accurate curve parameters, as well as applications of techniques for characterizing the phase curves obtained to infer compositional indicatives of NEOs. We also carried out a comparative study between NEOs and Main Belt asteroid populations, finding evidence of the influence of the diameter of these objects on the distribution of the G1 vs G2 phase space.