J/A+A/707/A131ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/A+A/707/A131CDSMacLennan E.M.Pentikaeinen H.Uvarova E.Muinonen K.Penttilae A.,Wilawer E.Oszkiewicz D.A.Cellino A.Tanga P.Wang X.Virkki A.2026-03-16T09:30:35Z2026-03-16T10:29:07ZCDS support team

CDS, Observatoire de Strasbourg, 11 rue de l'Universite, F-67000 Strasbourg, France

cds-question@unistra.frsolar-systemasteroidsphotometryvisible-astronomyThe third Gaia data release (DR3) contains high-precision, sparse-in-time brightness measurements of over 150000 asteroids. We employed a light-scattering inversion technique to estimate the rotation periods, spin pole orientations, shapes, and photometric phase function parameters (slope and absolute magnitude) of over 8000 asteroids based solely on DR3 photometry. Using triaxial ellipsoid and convex shapes, we sought the best-fit shape, spin, and linear slope, along with their uncertainties, via a Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling technique. We also fit HG12 and HG1G2 phase functions from predicted brightnesses derived from the fit shapes. Using previously reported diameters, the Gaia G-band geometric albedos were calculated. Variations in the spin and shape properties were assessed among various families and background populations of the Main Belt. We found that for the vast majority of our objects the best-fit ellipsoid spin poles are comparable to that of a convex shape. We rejected 15% of convex shapes and used the acceptable solutions to investigate differences in the shape distribution of families in the Main Belt. Revisiting the amplitude phase relationship, we found a strong dependence on the shape b/a elongation. The Bond albedo was calculated from the phase integral and shown to correlate well with the G12 slope parameter and known taxonomic classifications. The G-band absolute magnitudes and geometric albedos are systematically fainter than V-band values. The assumption of ellipsoid shape for sparse datasets is sufficient for estimating the spin pole longitude and latitude. We find no correlation between the shapes and spins of main-belt asteroid families and their ages. Absolute magnitudes and phase functions derived from Gaia photometry should be favored over the V band when estimating the solar energy budget, such as in thermal modeling applications. Asteroid taxonomies can be assessed to some degree from the photometric slopes and albedos.2026A&A...707A.131Mhttps://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/707/A131CatalogResearchIsServedByTAP VizieR generic servicerelated-toI/359 : Gaia DR3 Part 5: Solar System (Gaia Collaboration, 2022)J/A+A/707/A132 : Taxonomic classification of asteroids (Pentikainen+, 2026)https://cds.unistra.fr/vizier-org/licences_vizier.htmlhttps://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/707/A131https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/707/A131http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/VizieR-2?-source=J/A+A/707/A131https://vizier.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/707/A131https://vizier.iucaa.in/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/707/A131http://vizieridia.saao.ac.za/viz-bin/votable?-source=J/A+A/707/A131GETtext/xml+votablehttps://tapvizier.cds.unistra.fr/TAPVizieR/tapOpticaldefaultJ/A+A/707/A131/tableb1Inversion results from modeling of Gaia DR3 photometry for ellipsoid shape assumptionrecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintGaiaDR3Display the Gaia DR3 Solar System objects (Cat. I/359) data for this objectmeta.ref.urlcharNumberAsteroid numbermeta.id;meta.mainintProtRotation periodhtime.perioddoublee_ProtUncertainty in rotation periodhstat.errordoublelambdaSpin axis ecliptic longitudedegpos.ecliptic.lonfloate_lambdaUncertainty in spin axis longitudedegstat.errorfloatbetaSpin axis ecliptic latitudedegpos.ecliptic.latfloate_betaUncertainty in spin latitudedegstat.errorfloatb/ab to a axis ratio (1)phys.angSize;arith.ratiofloate_b/a? Uncertainty in b to astat.errorfloatnullablec/ac to a axis ratio (1)phys.size.axisRatiofloate_c/a? Uncertainty in c to astat.errorfloatnullablebeta0Photometric slopemag/radmeta.crypticfloate_beta0Uncertainty in photometric slopemag/radstat.errorfloatHGaiaAbsolute magnitudemagphys.magAbsfloate_HGaiaUncertainty in absolute magnitudemagstat.errorfloatrmsRoot mean square of the fitmagstat.errorfloatAICAkaike Information Criterionmeta.codefloatJ/A+A/707/A131/tableb2Inversion results from modeling of Gaia DR3 photometry for convex shape assumptionc/acxi? c to a axis ratio of ellipsoid fitted to convex shapephys.size.axisRatio;meta.modelledfloatnullablerecnoRecord number assigned by the VizieR team. Should Not be used for identification.meta.recordintGaiaDR3Display the Gaia DR3 Solar System objects (Cat. I/359) data for this objectmeta.ref.urlcharNumberAsteroid numbermeta.id;meta.mainintProtRotation periodhtime.perioddoublee_ProtUncertainty in rotation periodhstat.errordoublelambdaEcliptic spin axis longitudedegpos.ecliptic.lonfloate_lambdaUncertainty in spin axis longitudedegstat.errorfloatbetaEcliptic spin axis longitudedegpos.ecliptic.lonfloate_betaUncertainty in spin axis latitudedegstat.errorfloatbeta0Photometric slopemag/radmeta.crypticfloate_beta0Uncertainty in photometric slopemag/radstat.errorfloatG12HG12 slope parametermeta.crypticfloate_G12? Uncertainty in G12 (1)stat.errorfloatnullableHGaiaGaia absolute magnitudemagphys.magAbsfloate_HGaiaUncertainty in Gaia absolute magnitudemagstat.errorfloatdHG12aTransformation to HG12* absolute magnitudemagphys.magAbsfloatG1G1 slope parameter from HG1G2 phase functionmeta.crypticfloate_G1? Uncertainty in G1 (1)stat.errorfloatnullableG2G2 slope parameter from HG1G2 phase functionmeta.crypticfloate_G2? Uncertainty in G2 (1)stat.errorfloatnullableqPhase integral computed from G1 and G2stat.fit.paramfloate_qUncertainty in phase integralstat.errorfloatpGaia? Gaia geometric albedo computed from diameter (if available)phys.albedofloatnullablee_pGaia? Uncertainty in Gaia geometric albedostat.errorfloatnullableA? Bond albedo computed from q and pGaia (if available)phys.albedofloatnullablee_A? Uncertainty in Bond albedostat.errorfloatnullablermsroot mean square of the fitmagstat.errorfloatAICAkaike Information Criterionmeta.codefloatb/acxi? b to a axis ratio of ellipsoid fitted to convex shapephys.size.axisRatio;meta.modelledfloatnullable