Discovered by N. G. Thomas MPC designation 2927 Alamosa Discovered 5 October 1981 Orbits Sun Discovery site Anderson Mesa Station | Discovery date 5 October 1981 Minor planet category main-belt · (middle) Absolute magnitude 12.1 Discoverer Norman G. Thomas Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
Named after Alamosa, Colorado
(discoverer's birthplace) Alternative names 1981 TM · 1936 OA
1975 EN2 People also search for Sun, 2527 Gregory, 5864 Montgolfier | ||
2927 Alamosa, provisional designation 1981 TM, is a stony asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 12 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 5 October 1981, by American astronomer Norman Thomas at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona.
The S-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.1–3.0 AU once every 4.03 years (1,471 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.17 and an inclination of 17° with respect to the ecliptic. It was first identified as 1936 OA at Heidelberg Observatory in 1936, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 45 years prior to its official discovery observation.
A rotational light-curve of this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations made at the Phillips Academy Observatory (PAO) in April and May 2012. The light-curve gave a well-defined rotation period of 7000438320000000000♠4.3832±0.0002 hours with a brightness variation of 0.26 in magnitude (U=3). The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.20, and calculates a diameter of 11.8 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 12.0.
The minor planet was named after the U.S. town of Alamosa, Colorado, located in the San Luis Valley on the upper Rio Grande. The town is the birthplace of the discovering astronomer, Norman Thomas. Naming citation was published on 20 December 1983 (M.P.C. 8405). Almosa is Spanish for cottonwood tree.