| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | N. G. Thomas |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 5 October 1981 |
| Designations | |
| (2927) Alamosa | |
Named after | Alamosa, Colorado[2] (discoverer's birthplace) |
| 1981 TM · 1936 OA 1975 EN2 | |
| main-belt[3] · (middle)[4] background[5] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3] | |
| Epoch 27 April 2019 (JD 2458600.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 82.26yr (30,044 d) |
| Aphelion | 2.9605AU |
| Perihelion | 2.1020 AU |
| 2.5312 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1696 |
| 4.03 yr (1,471 d) | |
| 162.56° | |
| 0° 14m 40.92s / day | |
| Inclination | 17.022° |
| 150.47° | |
| 189.56° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 11.83 km(calculated)[4] | |
| 4.3832 h[6] | |
| 0.20(assumed)[4] | |
| S[4][7][8][9] | |
| 12.1[1][3] | |
2927 Alamosa, provisional designation1981 TM, is a stony backgroundasteroid from the central region of theasteroid belt, approximately 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 5 October 1981, by American astronomerNorman Thomas at Lowell'sAnderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona.[1] TheS-type asteroid has arotation period of 4.4 hours.[4] It was named after the U.S. town ofAlamosa in Colorado.[2]
Alamosa is a non-family asteroid from the main belt'sbackground population. It orbits the Sun in thecentral asteroid belt at a distance of 2.1–3.0 AU once every 4.03 years (1,471 days;semi-major axis of 2.53 AU). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.17 and aninclination of 17° with respect to theecliptic.[3] It was first identified as1936 OA atHeidelberg Observatory in 1936, extending the asteroid'sobservation arc by 45 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.[1]
Thisminor planet was named after the U.S. town ofAlamosa, Colorado, located in the San Luis Valley on the upperRio Grande. The town is the birthplace of the discovering astronomer, Norman Thomas.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 20 December 1983 (M.P.C. 8405).[10] Almosa is Spanish forcottonwood tree.
Alamosa has been characterized as a commonS-type asteroid byPan-STARRS' survey,[4][7] theSmall Solar System Objects Spectroscopic Survey (S3OS2),[5][9] as well as in theSDSS-based taxonomy.[8] In the SMASS-like variant of the S3OS2 taxonomy,Alamosa is aK-type asteroid.[5][9]
In April and May 2012, a rotationallightcurve was obtained fromphotometric observations made at the Phillips Academy Observatory (I12). Lightcurve analysis gave a well-definedrotation period of4.3832±0.0002 hours with a brightness variation of 0.26 inmagnitude (U=3).[6] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20 and calculates a diameter of 11.8 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 12.0.[4]
