asteroid rot

In this section of the lab your instructor will show you a model of a spinning asteroid. A very bright light is made to shine on the model, and the reflected light is measured by a small photosensor. The changing light level is shown on a graph. Discuss the following questions with your team:

  • Can the period of the model asteroid's rotation be determined from its lightcurve? In what way?
     
  • How does the shape of the light curve depend on the shape of the asteroid? What sort of lightcurve would you expect for a spherical asteroid, or for an egg-shaped asteroid?