Charged Coupled Device (CCD) Photometry of Small Main Belt Asteroids

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The research supported by this grant will utilize recent advances in technology and orbital studies to perform the first systematic physical study of small asteroids in the main belt. Such a study is critically needed to investigate the source region for the population of near-Earth asteroids and the collisional evolution processes within the asteroid belt. The observations, using telescopes at the McGraw-Hill Observatory and the Lowell Observatory, will reveal the rotation rates, shapes, basic compositions, and surface properties of approximately 30 small main belt asteroids. Knowledge of the rotation rates and shapes of these objects will provide strong constraints for asteroid collisional evolution models.