Physical studies of asteroids with photometric and polarimetric techniques

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This projects stems from an intensive observing campaign to acquire new photometric and polarimetric data for various objects of the solar system, from comets to asteroids, to giant planets. Observations have been or will be obtained from major facilities such as the VLT and the WHT, as well as two small to mid-size facilities: the observing station of Calern (a facility of the Observatory of Nice, France) and the Rozhen Observatory in Bulgaria. Zuri is to join an international collaboration, involving researchers from Italy, France, Bulgaria (for the observations) and Finland (for the theoretical modelling). After a training period requiring a stay in Calern and in Rozhen, Zuri will take care of a large part of the observations and of data reduction, and will learn the basic principle of data modelling, with particular emphasis on the derivation of some important physical properties of the asteroids. This project will also extend to a feasibility study of polarimetric observations based on the upcoming COMET Interceptor ESA mission, contributing to the design of instrumentation on board this spacecraft.