Datasets:

juliensimon
/

asteroid-lightcurves-lcdb

number int64 1 620k ⌀	name stringlengths 2 25	designation stringlengths 5 12 ⌀	family int64 1 9.5k ⌀	taxonomy stringclasses 114 values	diameter_km float64 0 2.73k ⌀	abs_magnitude_h float64 -1.1 30.9 ⌀	g_param float64 -0.12 1.01 ⌀	g1_param float64 -0.1 1 ⌀	g2_param float64 0.02 0.38 ⌀	albedo float64 0.01 0.88 ⌀	period_h float64 0 4.81k ⌀	period_flag stringclasses 5 values	period_description stringclasses 5 values	amplitude_min float64 0.01 1.97 ⌀	amplitude_max float64 0.01 3 ⌀	quality_code_u stringclasses 9 values	notes stringclasses 57 values	binary_type stringclasses 3 values
1	Ceres	null	9,106	C	939.4	3.53	0.12	null	null	0.0775	9.07417	S	null	0.03	0.06	3	null	null
2	Pallas	null	801	B	512.22	4.13	0.24	null	null	0.15	7.8132	null	null	0.03	0.16	3	null	null
3	Juno	null	501	S	257.88	5.28	0.32	null	null	0.2052	7.21	null	null	0.11	0.22	3	null	null
4	Vesta	null	401	V	525	3.2	0.35	null	null	0.3363	5.342	null	null	0.12	0.19	3	null	null
5	Astraea	null	2,001	S	115	6.85	0.24	null	null	0.243	16.806	null	null	0.16	0.27	3	null	null
6	Hebe	null	9,104	S	183.41	5.6	0.24	null	null	0.3021	7.2745	null	null	0.05	0.21	3	null	null
7	Iris	null	9,104	S	198.97	5.6	0.24	null	null	0.2567	7.139	null	null	0.02	0.37	3	null	null
8	Flora	null	402	S	138.79	6.56	0.32	null	null	0.2179	12.865	null	null	0.07	0.11	3	null	null
9	Metis	null	9,104	S	199.92	6.33	0.23	null	null	0.1298	5.079	null	null	0.05	0.32	3	null	null
10	Hygiea	null	601	C	350.94	5.43	0.12	null	null	0.0965	13.828	null	null	0.23	0.27	3	null	null
11	Parthenope	null	9,104	S	160.08	6.57	0.24	null	null	0.1623	13.7204	null	null	0.05	0.12	3	null	null
12	Victoria	null	9,104	L	127.35	7.06	0.22	null	null	0.1633	8.6599	null	null	0.04	0.42	3	null	null
13	Egeria	null	9,104	C	206.96	6.95	0.24	null	null	0.0684	7.045	null	null	0.12	0.47	3	null	null
14	Irene	null	9,104	S	152.28	6.3	0.24	null	null	0.23	15.028	null	null	0.03	0.16	3	null	null
15	Eunomia	null	502	S	252.75	5.37	0.24	null	null	0.1966	6.083	null	null	0.4	0.53	3	null	null
16	Psyche	null	9,106	X	221.9	5.93	0.21	null	null	0.1523	4.196	null	null	0.03	0.34	3	null	null
17	Thetis	null	9,104	S	93.32	7.9	0.23	null	null	0.1403	12.27048	S	null	0.2	0.4	3	null	null
18	Melpomene	null	9,104	S	139.7	6.34	0.24	null	null	0.2634	11.57	null	null	0.07	0.34	3	null	null
19	Fortuna	null	9,104	C	223.07	7.15	0.162	null	null	0.0489	7.4432	null	null	0.23	0.3	3	null	null
20	Massalia	null	404	S	145.23	6.54	0.24	null	null	0.2027	8.098	null	null	0.17	0.27	3	null	null
21	Lutetia	null	9,104	X	100.69	7.35	0.24	null	null	0.2	8.1655	null	null	0.05	0.25	3	null	null
22	Kalliope	null	9,106	X	142.99	6.45	0.12	null	null	0.2272	4.1483	null	null	0.02	0.53	3	null	B
23	Thalia	null	9,105	S	106.51	7.16	0.2	null	null	0.2129	12.312	null	null	0.1	0.3	3	null	null
24	Themis	null	602	B	202.25	7.09	0.18	null	null	0.0631	8.374	null	null	0.09	0.14	3	null	null
25	Phocaea	null	701	S	74.86	7.9	0.24	null	null	0.218	9.9341	null	null	0.03	0.25	3	null	null
26	Proserpina	null	9,105	S	94.52	7.58	0.2	null	null	0.1837	13.11	null	null	0.08	0.21	3	null	null
27	Euterpe	null	410	S	103.76	7	0.24	null	null	0.26	10.4082	null	null	0.1	0.21	3	null	null
28	Bellona	null	9,106	S	97	7.09	0.12	null	null	0.2738	15.706	null	null	0.06	0.31	3	null	null
29	Amphitrite	null	9,104	S	210.42	6.01	0.24	null	null	0.1574	5.3921	null	null	0.04	0.15	3	null	null
30	Urania	null	9,104	S	98.99	7.53	0.23	null	null	0.1753	13.686	null	null	0.11	0.45	3	null	null
31	Euphrosyne	null	901	C	279.82	6.7	0.09	null	null	0.0471	5.53	null	null	0.06	0.11	3	null	null
32	Pomona	null	9,104	S	79.8	7.8	0.24	null	null	0.2104	9.448	null	null	0.13	0.33	3	null	null
33	Polyhymnia	null	9,106	S	52.65	8.56	0.34	null	null	0.24	18.608	null	null	0.12	0.25	3	null	null
34	Circe	null	9,105	C	95.99	8.51	0.2	null	null	0.0756	12.15	null	null	0.17	0.25	3	null	null
35	Leukothea	null	9,106	C	102.78	8.77	0.12	null	null	0.0519	31.9	null	null	0.07	0.43	3	null	null
36	Atalante	null	9,106	C	105.41	8.61	0.12	null	null	0.0572	9.93	null	null	0.12	0.17	3	null	null
37	Fides	null	9,105	S	106.45	7.33	0.27	null	null	0.1826	7.3335	null	null	0.1	0.28	3	null	null
38	Leda	null	9,106	C	115.87	8.32	0.09	null	null	0.0621	12.838	null	null	0.05	0.16	3	null	null
39	Laetitia	null	9,106	S	163.01	6	0.12	null	null	0.2646	5.138	null	null	0.08	0.53	3	null	null
40	Harmonia	null	9,104	S	110.67	6.55	0.24	null	null	0.3459	8.91	null	null	0.13	0.33	3	null	null
41	Daphne	null	9,106	C	186.96	7.12	0.12	null	null	0.0717	5.988	null	null	0.18	0.45	3	null	B
42	Isis	null	9,104	L	99.54	7.72	0.24	null	null	0.1456	13.59	null	null	0.14	0.32	3	null	null
43	Ariadne	null	402	S	65.9	8	0.24	null	null	0.2566	5.76218	null	null	0.06	0.73	3	null	null
44	Nysa	null	405	X	68.96	6.75	0.24	null	null	0.7411	6.422	null	null	0.24	0.52	3	null	null
45	Eugenia	null	9,106	C	206.27	7.42	0.13	null	null	0.0446	5.699	null	null	0.09	0.3	3	null	M
46	Hestia	null	9,104	X	124.05	8.4	0.12	null	null	0.0501	21.04	null	null	0.09	0.12	3	null	null
47	Aglaja	null	9,106	B	138	7.86	0.178	null	null	0.0665	13.178	null	null	0.02	0.21	3	null	null
48	Doris	null	9,106	C	221.2	7.18	0.12	null	null	0.0485	11.89	null	null	0.11	0.36	3	null	null
49	Pales	null	9,106	C	149.44	8.06	0.12	null	null	0.0472	20.705	null	null	0.15	0.19	3	null	null
50	Virginia	null	9,105	C	99.65	9.5	0.2	null	null	0.0282	14.315	null	null	0.07	0.2	3	null	null
51	Nemausa	null	9,104	C	147.31	7.75	0.24	null	null	0.0646	7.783	null	null	0.1	0.25	3	3	null
52	Europa	null	601	C	292.89	6.31	0.12	null	null	0.0616	5.6304	null	null	0.09	0.12	3	null	null
53	Kalypso	null	9,105	XC	114.97	8.66	0.09	null	null	0.0459	9.036	null	null	0.1	0.16	3	null	null
54	Alexandra	null	9,106	C	141.98	7.66	0.12	null	null	0.0756	7.024	null	null	0.1	0.28	3	null	null
55	Pandora	null	9,106	X	70	7.7	0.12	null	null	0.2998	4.804	null	null	0.07	0.33	3	null	null
56	Melete	null	9,104	X	112.88	8.56	0.24	null	null	0.0522	18.147	null	null	0.07	0.16	3	null	null
57	Mnemosyne	null	9,106	S	122.71	7.09	0.22	null	null	0.1711	25.324	null	null	0.08	0.24	3-	null	null
58	Concordia	null	9,106	C	92.17	8.86	0.09	null	null	0.0594	9.895	null	null	0.01	0.15	3	null	null
59	Elpis	null	9,106	B	164.49	8.16	0.12	null	null	0.0355	13.671	null	null	0.07	0.42	3	null	null
60	Echo	null	9,104	S	60.03	8.48	0.25	null	null	0.198	25.208	null	null	0.1	0.22	3	null	null
61	Danae	null	9,106	S	81.71	7.79	0.12	null	null	0.2025	11.45	null	null	0.13	0.3	3	null	null
62	Erato	null	602	C	95.43	8.6	0.09	null	null	0.0704	9.2213	null	null	0.12	0.28	3	null	null
63	Ausonia	null	401	S	90	7.55	0.43	null	null	0.2082	9.298	null	null	0.27	0.47	3	null	null
64	Angelina	null	9,105	X	55.89	7.55	0.2	null	null	0.54	8.752	null	null	0.04	0.42	3	null	null
65	Cybele	null	9,106	X	237.96	6.9	0.12	null	null	0.0542	6.0814	null	null	0.02	0.12	3	null	null
66	Maja	null	9,105	C	71.69	9.55	0.2	null	null	0.052	9.73509	null	null	0.21	0.45	3	null	null
67	Asia	null	9,104	S	57.66	8.43	0.24	null	null	0.2256	15.853	null	null	0.19	0.32	3	null	null
68	Leto	null	9,106	S	150.02	6.78	0.12	null	null	0.1523	14.848	null	null	0.1	0.53	3	3	null
69	Hesperia	null	9,106	X	137.21	7.25	0.12	null	null	0.1181	5.655	null	null	0.12	0.23	3	null	null
70	Panopaea	null	9,105	C	139.26	8.1	0.13	null	null	0.0524	15.8052	null	null	0.07	0.18	3	null	null
71	Niobe	null	9,106	X	92.74	7.31	0.4	null	null	0.2446	35.864	null	null	0.15	0.25	3	null	null
72	Feronia	null	9,104	TDG	79.3	8.79	null	null	null	0.0856	8.097	null	null	0.11	0.15	3	null	null
73	Klytia	null	9,105	S	44.22	9.12	0.2	null	null	0.2032	8.297	null	null	0.26	0.35	3	null	null
74	Galatea	null	9,106	C	118.41	8.97	0.12	null	null	0.0325	17.268	null	null	0.06	0.16	3	null	null
75	Eurydike	null	9,105	X	68.57	8.97	0.23	null	null	0.097	5.357	null	null	0.1	0.15	3	null	null
76	Freia	null	9,106	X	158.46	7.86	0.07	null	null	0.0503	9.973	null	null	0.05	0.33	3	null	null
77	Frigga	null	9,105	X	67.17	8.52	0.16	null	null	0.1527	9.0032	null	null	0.07	0.28	3	null	null
78	Diana	null	9,105	C	124.59	8.02	0.08	null	null	0.0706	7.2991	null	null	0.02	0.3	3	null	null
79	Eurynome	null	9,104	S	67.12	7.79	0.24	null	null	0.3002	5.978	null	null	0.05	0.25	3	null	null
80	Sappho	null	9,104	S	67.01	7.98	0.24	null	null	0.2528	14.03	null	null	0.14	0.4	3	null	null
81	Terpsichore	null	622	C	118.86	8.73	0.12	null	null	0.0403	10.943	null	null	0.02	0.15	3	null	null
82	Alkmene	null	9,106	S	60.7	8.28	0.12	null	null	0.2337	12.999	null	null	0.18	0.54	3	null	null
83	Beatrix	null	9,104	X	81.19	8.8	0.24	null	null	0.0809	10.111	null	null	0.09	0.18	3	null	null
84	Klio	null	413	C	79.06	9.4	0.12	null	null	0.0491	23.562	null	null	0.04	0.21	3	null	null
85	Io	null	502	B	163	7.56	0.24	null	null	0.0629	6.875	null	null	0.05	0.18	3	null	null
86	Semele	null	9,106	C	120.41	8.76	0.12	null	null	0.0382	16.634	null	null	0.1	0.18	3	null	null
87	Sylvia	null	603	X	260.89	6.98	0.12	null	null	0.0419	5.184	null	null	0.22	0.5	3	null	M
88	Thisbe	null	9,106	B	204.98	7.03	0.09	null	null	0.0648	6.042	null	null	0.12	0.18	3	null	null
89	Julia	null	540	K	141.62	6.37	0.24	null	null	0.2494	11.387	null	null	0.1	0.25	3	null	null
90	Antiope	null	602	C	119.84	8.49	0.12	null	null	0.0494	16.509	null	null	0.05	0.88	3	null	B
91	Aegina	null	2,001	C	109.5	9.17	0.24	null	null	0.0316	6.025	null	null	0.12	0.27	3	null	null
92	Undina	null	9,106	X	125.49	6.79	0.12	null	null	0.2157	15.941	null	null	0.15	0.2	3	null	null
93	Minerva	null	9,106	C*	175.7	7.5	-0.006	null	null	0.057	5.982	null	null	0.03	0.2	3	null	M
94	Aurora	null	9,106	C	168.87	7.59	0.12	null	null	0.057	7.22	null	null	0.03	0.18	3	null	null
95	Arethusa	null	9,106	C	135.76	8.05	0.12	null	null	0.0577	8.705	null	null	0.24	0.35	3	null	null
96	Aegle	null	630	T	148.24	7.65	0.09	null	null	0.07	13.868	null	null	0.05	0.12	3	null	null
97	Klotho	null	9,105	M	82.8	7.74	0.2	null	null	0.2065	35.15	null	null	0.14	0.3	3	null	null
98	Ianthe	null	9,105	C	104.34	9.01	0.2	null	null	0.0404	16.479	null	null	0.1	0.34	3	null	null
99	Dike	null	531	X	71.25	9.35	0.09	null	null	0.0633	18.127	null	null	0.14	0.22	3	null	null
100	Hekate	null	601	S	88.26	7.82	0.12	null	null	0.1689	27.066	null	null	0.11	0.23	3	null	null

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Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB)

Part of the Orbital Mechanics Datasets collection on Hugging Face.

Rotation periods, lightcurve amplitudes, and physical properties for 36,259 asteroids from the Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB) maintained by Brian Warner at MinorPlanet.info.

Dataset description

The LCDB is the most comprehensive compilation of asteroid rotation parameters. For each asteroid, the database provides the best-estimate rotation period (hours), lightcurve amplitude range (magnitudes), a quality code (U rating 1--3 indicating reliability), taxonomic classification, diameter, albedo, and slope parameters. The U rating system is:

U	Meaning
1	Tentative, based on fragmentary data
2	Reasonably secure, may be refined
3	Unambiguous, well-established

Suffixes + and - indicate borderline ratings. A period_flag of > means the true period may be longer; S indicates a synodic period.

Schema

Column	Type	Description
`number`	Int64	IAU asteroid number (null if unnumbered)
`name`	string	Asteroid name (e.g., "Ceres", "Eros")
`designation`	string	Provisional designation (e.g., "2024 YR4")
`family`	Int64	Dynamical family code
`taxonomy`	string	Taxonomic class (Tholen/Bus-DeMeo, e.g., S, C, V)
`diameter_km`	float64	Diameter in km
`abs_magnitude_h`	float64	Absolute magnitude H
`g_param`	float64	Slope parameter G
`g1_param`	float64	Phase function parameter G1
`g2_param`	float64	Phase function parameter G2
`albedo`	float64	Geometric albedo
`period_h`	float64	Rotation period in hours
`period_flag`	string	Period qualifier: `>` (lower limit), `S` (synodic), `<`, `D`, `U`
`period_description`	string	Additional period notes
`amplitude_min`	float64	Minimum lightcurve amplitude (mag)
`amplitude_max`	float64	Maximum lightcurve amplitude (mag)
`quality_code_u`	string	U quality rating: 1, 1+, 2-, 2, 2+, 3-, 3
`notes`	string	Additional notes
`binary_type`	string	Binary/multiple system indicator: B (binary), M (multiple), ? (suspected)

Quick stats

36,259 asteroids
34,755 with measured rotation periods (median 7.32 h)
5,859 with high-quality periods (U = 3 or 3-)
36,233 with known diameters
36,250 with measured albedos
558 binary/multiple systems
114 distinct taxonomic classes
Fastest rotator: 2020 HS7 at 0.00083 hours

Usage

from datasets import load_dataset

ds = load_dataset("juliensimon/asteroid-lightcurves-lcdb", split="train")
df = ds.to_pandas()

# Well-established rotation periods only (U >= 3)
reliable = df[df["quality_code_u"].isin(["3", "3-"])]

# Fast rotators (period < 2.2 h = spin barrier)
fast = df[(df["period_h"] < 2.2) & (df["quality_code_u"].isin(["3", "3-", "2+", "2"]))]

# S-type asteroids with known diameters and periods
s_type = df[
    (df["taxonomy"].str.startswith("S", na=False))
    & (df["diameter_km"].notna())
    & (df["period_h"].notna())
]

# Period vs diameter scatter
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
sub = df[(df["period_h"].notna()) & (df["diameter_km"].notna()) & (df["diameter_km"] > 0)]
plt.scatter(sub["diameter_km"], sub["period_h"], s=1, alpha=0.3)
plt.xscale("log"); plt.yscale("log")
plt.xlabel("Diameter (km)"); plt.ylabel("Period (hours)")
plt.title("Asteroid Spin Rate vs Size")
plt.show()

Data source

Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB) by Brian D. Warner, Alan W. Harris, and Josef Durech.

Warner, B.D., Harris, A.W., and Pravec, P. (2009). Icarus 202, 134-146.

Related datasets

neo-close-approaches -- NEO close approaches from NASA JPL
sbdb-asteroids-comets -- JPL Small-Body Database
nhats-accessible-asteroids -- Human-accessible NEOs

Pipeline

Source code: juliensimon/space-datasets

Citation

@dataset{asteroid_lightcurves_lcdb,
  author = {Simon, Julien},
  title = {Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB)},
  year = {2026},
  publisher = {Hugging Face},
  url = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/juliensimon/asteroid-lightcurves-lcdb},
  note = {Based on the Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB) by Warner, Harris, and Durech}
}