Multicolor Photometry of Small Bodies of the Solar System: Performance Potential at the Robophot Telescope

摘要

We consider prospects for investigating asteroids with the multicolor photometric method at the Robophot telescope—a robotic telescope of the Dall–Kirkham system with a 0.6-m primary mirror and a focal length of 4.2 m. It is equipped with a three-channel photometer with the g', r', and i' filters of the SDSS photometric system, and the field of view is 20′. The use of a three-channel photometer in observations of small bodies will make it possible to construct multicolor light curves without phase delays. Diagrams of the r' – i' and g' – r' color indices will provide the means of classifying the C- and S-type asteroids. From the high-accuracy light curves, the rotation parameters of asteroids can be determined, for which it is necessary to take the Yarkovsky effect into account correctly. The results of multicolor photometric observations at the Robophot telescope will allow for solving complex scientific problems related to the studies of the physical and dynamic evolution of small bodies in the Solar System.