| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | N. G. Thomas |
| Discovery site | Anderson Mesa Stn. |
| Discovery date | 15 February 1983 |
| Designations | |
| (3367) Alex | |
Named after | Alex R. Baltutis (discoverer's grandson)[2] |
| 1983 CA3 · 1953 XM 1971 SH2 · 1981 UQ9 1981 UW15 | |
| main-belt · (middle)[3] background | |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 63.42 yr (23,165 days) |
| Aphelion | 2.9767AU |
| Perihelion | 2.5915 AU |
| 2.7841 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0692 |
| 4.65yr (1,697 days) | |
| 180.67° | |
| 0° 12m 43.92s / day | |
| Inclination | 5.3195° |
| 258.18° | |
| 237.17° | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 9.607±0.124 km[4][5] 15.19±0.23 km[6] 16.96±1.11 km[7] 19.30 km(calculated)[3] |
| 9.6 h[8] 9.6±0.5 h[8] | |
| 0.057(assumed)[3] 0.099±0.013[7] 0.101±0.014[5][6] 0.3033±0.0538[4] | |
| SMASS =X[1] E[4] · X[3] | |
| 12.3[1][3] · 12.00[7][4] · 12.20[6] · 12.77±0.25[9] | |
3367 Alex, provisional designation1983 CA3, is a backgroundasteroid from the intermediate region of theasteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers (11 miles) in diameter. It was discovered on 2 September 1993, by American astronomerNorman Thomas at Lowell'sAnderson Mesa Station, near Flagstaff, Arizona, in the United States.[10] TheX-type asteroid has arotation period of 9.6 hours. It was named after the grandson of the discoverer, Alex Baltutis.[2]
Alex is a non-family asteroid from the main belt'sbackground population. It orbits the Sun in thecentral asteroid belt at a distance of 2.6–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 8 months (1,697 days). Its orbit has aneccentricity of 0.07 and aninclination of 5° with respect to theecliptic.[1] The asteroid was first identified as1953 XM atHeidelberg Observatory in 1953, extending the body'sobservation arc by 30 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.[10]
Thisminor planet was named by the discoverer after his grandson, Alex R. Baltutis.[2] The official naming citation was published by theMinor Planet Center on 26 March 1986 (M.P.C. 10550).[11]
In theSMASS classification,Alex is anX-type asteroid, while NASA'sWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer characterizes it as a brightE-type asteroid.[1][4] Due to its intermediate albedo, the body may be of metallic composition.
In February 2006 and April 2011, two rotationallightcurves ofAlex were obtained from photometric observations made by French astronomers René Roy and Laurent Bernasconi, respectively. The fragmentary lightcurves gave an identicalrotation period of9.6 and9.6±0.5 hours with a respective brightness variation of 0.01 and 0.05 inmagnitude (U=1/1).[8] Such a low amplitude typically indicates that the body has a nearly spheroidal shape.
According to the space-based surveys carried out by the JapaneseAkari satellite and by WISE with its subsequentNEOWISE mission,Alex has analbedo of 0.10, and measures 17.0 and 15.2 kilometers in diameter, respectively.[7][6] TheCollaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 19.3 kilometers with anabsolute magnitude of 12.3.[3]
