Online multi-parameter phase-curve fitting and application to a large corpus of asteroid photometric data

We apply the new H,G12 and H,G1,G2 phase functions to a large corpus of asteroid photometric data. We make use of low-precision (generally rounded to 0.1 mag) and low-accuracy (rms magnitude uncertainties of ±0.2-0.3 mag) data obtained from the Minor Planet Center and modified at Lowell Observatory. We find (1) a correlation between G1,G2 values derived for asteroid families and albedos; (2) G12 homogeneity in families. In addition, we make available an online Java applet (titled Asteroid Phase Function Analyzer). The applet may be used to compute asteroid absolute magnitudes and slope parameters using three different phase functions: the H,G, H,G1,G2, and H,G12. The tool also includes non-Gaussian error analysis using Monte Carlo methods. The applet is available at http://asteroid.astro.helsinki.fi/astphase/.

► We present online, open-source, multi-parameter phase-curve fitting Java applet. ► We apply the tool to a large number of data, in particular we focus on results for asteroid families and taxonomic groups. ► We discuss plans for adoption by the astronomical community of the H,G12 and H,G1,G2 photometric systems and our tabulation of asteroid photometric parameters.