Discovered by Y. Väisälä MPC designation 3037 Alku Alternative names 1944 BA · 1979 BH Discovered 17 January 1944 Orbits Sun Discovery site Iso-Heikkilä Observatory | Discovery date 17 January 1944 Named after Alku (a boat's name) Minor planet category main-belt · (middle) Absolute magnitude 11.6 Discoverer Yrjö Väisälä Asteroid group Asteroid belt | |
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3037 Alku, provisional designation 1944 BA, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 17 January 1944, by Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä at Turku Observatory in Southwest Finland.
The C-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.2–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 4 months (1,596 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.19 and an inclination of 19° with respect to the ecliptic. No precoveries were taken before its discovery.
A rotational light-curve for this asteroid was obtained from photometric measurements taken by American astronomer Brian Warner at the Palmer Divide Observatory, Colorado, in January 2005. The light-curve gave a well-defined rotation period of 7001118440000000000♠11.844±0.002 hours with a brightness variation of 0.95 in magnitude (U=3).
According to the space-based surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), the Japanese Akari satellite, and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, the asteroid measures between 18.9 and 29.9 kilometers in diameter and it has an albedo in the range of 0.03 to 0.11. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link agrees with the results obtained by IRAS, and derives an albedo of 0.09 with a diameter of 18.8 kilometers, based on an absolute magnitude of 11.8.
The minor planet was named after the sailing boat Alku ("the beginning" in Finnish). Built by his father, the discoverer used to sail it in his childhood, and it became the origin of his enduring passion for sailing. Naming citation was published on 27 June 1991 (M.P.C. 18450).