Direct Detections of the Asteroidal YORP Effect

望远镜时间已被授予研究小行星YORP效应。建议摘要：YORP效应是一种小行星所经历的扭矩，由于入射太阳辐射压力和热光子各向异性发射的反冲效应。它可以改变它们的自转速度和自旋轴方向，并可以解释许多小行星科学中观察到的现象。我们将使用INT+WFC来获得几个近地天体的光曲线覆盖，这些近地天体是ESO大型计划的目标，其目的是在大样本中直接探测YORP引起的近地天体的自转周期变化。这个项目的目的不是为了确定天体的高精度周期解，而是帮助测量由于YORP效应而导致的小行星自转光曲线中任何潜在的相位偏移。在INT获得的光曲线数据将被证明对这一方案至关重要，因为从欧洲南方天文台现在无法观测到一些目标。

Telescope time has been awarded to study the asteroidal YORP effect.Proposal Abstract: The YORP effect is a torque experienced by small asteroids that is due to both incident solar radiation pressure and the recoil effect from the anisotropic emission of thermal photons. It can modify their rotation rates and spin-axis orientations, and can explain many observed phenomena in asteroidal science. We will use the INT+WFC to obtain lightcurve coverage of several NEAs which are targets of an ESO Large Programme, the aim of which is to directly detect YORP-induced rotation period changes amongst a large sample of NEAs. The aim of this project is not to determine highly accurate period solutions for the objects, but rather to assist in the measurement of any potential phase offset in the asteroids' rotational lightcurve due to the YORP effect. The lightcurve data obtained at the INT will prove crucial to this programme since some of the targets are now unobservable from ESO.