The multi-wavelength phase curves of small bodies: Phase coloring

Context. Small bodies change their brightness due to different motives: Rotation along their axis or axes, combined with irregular shapes and/or changing surface properties, or changes in the geometry of observations. In this work, we tackle the problem of Phase curves, which show the change in brightness due to changes in the fraction of illuminated surface as seen by the observer. Aims. We aim to study the effect of the phase curves in the five wavelengths of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in scores of objects (several tens of thousands), focusing particularly on the spectral slopes and the colors and their changes with phase angle. Methods. We used a Bayesian inference method and Monte Carlo techniques to retrieve the absolute magnitudes in five wavelengths, using the results to study the phase coloring effect in different bins of the semi-major axis. Results. We obtained absolute magnitudes in the five filters for over 40 000 objects. Although some outliers are identified, most of the usual color-color space is recovered by the data presented. We also detect a dual behavior in the spectral slopes, with a change at α≈ 5 deg.