3045 Alois, provisional designation 1984 AW, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the outer region of the asteroid belt, approximately 26 kilometers in diameter. The asteroid was discovered on 8 January 1984, by American astronomer Joe Wagner at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States.[8] It was named after the discoverer's grandfather Alois Stuczynski.[2]
Alois orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.8–3.5 AU once every 5 years and 6 months (2,023 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.11 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] A first precovery was taken at Palomar Observatory in 1951, extending the body's observation arc by 33 years prior to its official discovery observation at Anderson Mesa.[8]
According to the space-based surveys by the Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Alois measures 23.5 and 27.5 kilometers in diameter, respectively, and has a corresponding albedo of 0.095 and 0.059.[4][5] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 26.6 kilometers.[3]
This minor planet was named by the discoverer in memory of his grandfather, Alois T. Stuczynski.[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 7 March 1985 (M.P.C. 9479).[9]
^ abcdUsui, Fumihiko; Kuroda, Daisuke; Müller, Thomas G.; Hasegawa, Sunao; Ishiguro, Masateru; Ootsubo, Takafumi; et al. (October 2011). "Asteroid Catalog Using Akari: AKARI/IRC Mid-Infrared Asteroid Survey". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 63 (5): 1117–1138. Bibcode:2011PASJ...63.1117U. doi:10.1093/pasj/63.5.1117. (online, AcuA catalog p. 153)
