Physical properties of asteroids from UBV photometry
A program of asteroid photoelectric photometry is discussed which is designed primarily to obtain UBV magnitudes and colors of most asteroids reaching magnitude 13.3 or brighter at opposition and of asteroids reaching magnitude 14.3 or brighter at perihelic opposition. A two-color plot is presented for asteroids whose compositional classes have been determined by radiometry, spectrophotometry, and polarimetry. A clear separation by color is observed for S and C objects; M and E objects are shown to be colorimetrically similar to C objects. Another two-color plot for about 200 asteroids reveals a continuum between the C and M, E domains and a possible continuum between the C and S domains. A plot of the frequency distribution of asteroid semimajor axes indicates that C objects predominate in the outer part of the asteroid belt while S objects are more numerous in the inner part. Statistics of asteroid phase angles and light-curve amplitudes are examined. It is suggested that the phase coefficient of an asteroid is inversely proportional to its geometric albedo and that S objects may be less spherical than C objects.