Rotation rates in the Koronis family, complete to [formula omitted

Abstract

We report the results of an observational survey of rotation lightcurves for members of the Koronis asteroid family that we conducted using CCD imaging cameras at seven different observatories during the period 1998–2005. A total of 375 individual lightcurves yield new or refined rotation periods for the 24 survey objects (658) Asteria, (761) Brendelia, (811) Nauheima, (975) Perseverantia, (1029) La Plata, (1079) Mimosa, (1100) Arnica, (1245) Calvinia, (1336) Zeelandia, (1350) Rosselia, (1423) Jose, (1482) Sebastiana, (1618) Dawn, (1635) Bohrmann, (1725) CrAO, (1741) Giclas, (1742) Schaifers, (1848) Delvaux, (1955) McMath, (2123) Vltava, (2144) Marietta, (2224) Tucson, (2729) Urumqi, and (2985) Shakespeare. Most of the data have been calibrated to standard magnitudes. Several previously unpublished lightcurves recorded using a photoelectric photometer during the period 1987–1989 are also reported here. We present composite lightcurves and report derived synodic rotation periods. For those objects with sufficient coverage in solar phase angle we also determined Lumme–Bowell solar phase parameters, and for four objects we obtained V – R colors. Our results reduce selection biases among known rotation lightcurve parameters for Koronis family members by completing the sample down to H ≈ 11.2 , and they lay the foundation for future spin vector and shape determinations. The distribution of rotation rates in the available sample of N = 40 Koronis members is non-Maxwellian at a confidence level of 99%. It also seems to be qualitatively consistent with the effects of long-term modification by thermal YORP torques, as proposed by Vokrouhlický et al. [Vokrouhlický, D., Nesvorný, D., Bottke, W.F., 2003. Nature 425, 147–151] to explain the distribution of the ten Koronis member spin vectors that have already been determined [Slivan, S.M., 2002. Nature 419, 49–51; Slivan, S.M., Binzel, R.P., Crespo da Silva, L.D., Kaasalainen, M., Lyndaker, M.M., Krčo, M., 2003. Icarus 162, 285–307].