Submitting Data to ALCDEF

The Asteroid Lightcurve Data Exchange Format (ALCDEF) was introduced at the 2010 Division of Planetary Sciences meeting. The idea is to standardize  minimum data requirements and format so that exchanging data sets among researchers is as simple as possible.

Click here to download the ALCDEF standards document.

The ALCDEF initiative also includes storing data on a long-term, centralized system that will be regularly maintained.

The Minor Planet Center has taken on that task, which includes uploading and downloading data.

NEW! The MPC ALCDEF site now displays the individual plots for submitted data.

After you select an asteroid to download the data, the site goes to a page that displays a summary of the lightcurve observations and has a link to download an ALCDEF-compliant file.

Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the plots for each "lightcurve block."

Save the Lightcurves!

It is vital that asteroid photometry be recorded for posterity

Lightcurve data can be used to determine rotation periods and model the spin axis and/or shape of an asteroid. Far too much of past data are in disarray, following any number of formats, if available at all.

Please consider submitting your data to the ALCDEF database as soon as possible.

MPC ALCDEF web site