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Asteroid sidereal rotation period constraints from observed epochs
Implementation of sidereal rotation period constraint approach described by Slivan (2013):
(Abstract) Sidereal period determination requires establishing correct rotation counts over long time spans, which can involve ambiguities that are not necessarily correctly handled by purely statistical approaches. I describe a method to check ambiguity in counting rotations that elapse during the time spanned by an epoch data set, and to identify constraints on rotation counts and sidereal periods that can be used as inputs to spin vector analysis methods that require initial values.
Release Notes
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(Updated 2023 Mar 13) Phase angle bisectors “auto-fill”: For objects numbered through (5139) the application will calculate the PAB longitudes for epochs from the years 1983 and later, if the user input form fields for longitude and latitude are left blank. PAB longitudes for objects or epochs outside the server catalog will need to be entered directly by the user.
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Appropriate estimates of the uncertainties for the epochs and the synodic period are essential to obtaining useful and credible constraints. Review of information in the References (2012, 2013, 2024a, 2024b) is recommended.
Users of this Web tool are kindly asked to include an acknowledgment in publication, and encouraged to reference the paper (Slivan, 2013) which describes the calculations.