Asteroid Photometry

TL;DR

Asteroid photometry advances, driven by spacecraft data and theoretical work, enhance understanding of asteroid surfaces, improve observational planning, and reveal ongoing scientific debates.

Contribution

This paper reviews recent developments in asteroid photometry across observations, laboratory experiments, and theoretical models, highlighting new insights and controversies.

Findings

Spacecraft imaging has significantly advanced surface property analysis.

Laboratory measurements are revealing controversies in model interpretations.

Recent theoretical developments are refining asteroid photometric models.

Abstract

Asteroid photometry has three major applications: providing clues about asteroid surface physical properties and compositions, facilitating photometric corrections, and helping design and plan ground-based and spacecraft observations. The most significant advances in asteroid photometry in the past decade were driven by spacecraft observations that collected spatially resolved imaging and spectroscopy data. In the mean time, laboratory measurements and theoretical developments are revealing controversies regarding the physical interpretations of models and model parameter values. We will review the new developments in asteroid photometry that have occurred over the past decade in the three complementary areas of observations, laboratory work, and theory. Finally we will summarize and discuss the implications of recent findings.