Absolute magnitudes and slope parameters for 250,000 asteroids observed by Pan-STARRS PS1 - Preliminary results

We present the results of a Monte Carlo technique to calculate the absolute magnitudes (H) and slope parameters (G) of ∼240,000 asteroids observed by the Pan-STARRS1 telescope during the first 15 months of its 3-year all-sky survey mission. The system's exquisite photometry with photometric errors ≲0.04mag, and well-defined filter and photometric system, allowed us to derive accurate H and G even with a limited number of observations and restricted range in phase angles. Our Monte Carlo method simulates each asteroid's rotation period, amplitude and color to derive the most-likely H and G, but its major advantage is in estimating realistic statistical + systematic uncertainties and errors on each parameter. The method was tested by comparison with the well-established and accurate results for about 500 asteroids provided by Pravec et al. (Pravec, P. et al. [2012]. Icarus 221, 365-387) and then applied to determining H and G for the Pan-STARRS1 asteroids using both the Muinonen et al. (Muinonen, K. et al. [2010]. Icarus 209, 542-555) and Bowell et al. (Bowell, E. et al. [1989]. Asteroids III, Chapter Application of Photometric Models to Asteroids. University of Arizona Press, pp. 524-555) phase functions. Our results confirm the bias in MPC photometry discovered by Jurić et al. (Jurić, M. et al. [2002]. Astrophys. J. 124, 1776-1787).