Euraster an European Network for Asteroid Stellar Occultations

Abstract

International audienceExcept for in situ space missions, asteroid stellar occultations are the only way to measure asteroids at a sub kilometer level. To be scientifically relevant we need to get several positive chords in order to draw an accurate silhouette. These occultation data are the only way to fit the absolute size of 3D models obtained with light curves. At the end, it can be possible to get a good estimation of the volume and therefore if we know the mass, of the density. As we need a lot of observers, amateur contribution is crucial. We present here some statistics and results of the ten last years