Discovered by N. G. Thomas MPC designation 3367 Alex Discovered 15 February 1983 Inclination 5.3198° Discoverer Norman G. Thomas Asteroid group Asteroid belt | Discovery date 15 February 1983 Minor planet category main-belt · (middle) Aphelion 2.98 m Orbits Sun Discovery site Anderson Mesa Station | |
Named after Alex R. Baltutis
(discoverer's family) Alternative names 1983 CA3 · 1953 XM
1971 SH2 · 1981 UQ9
1981 UW15 | ||
3367 Alex, provisional designation 1983 CA3, is a metallic asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, approximately 17 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by American astronomer Norman Thomas at Lowell's Anderson Mesa Station, near Flagstaff, Arizona, on 15 February 1983.
The X-type asteroid orbits the Sun at a distance of 2.6–3.0 AU once every 4 years and 8 months (1,696 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.07 and an inclination of 5° with respect to the ecliptic. The first precovery was taken at Heidelberg Observatory in 1953, extending the asteroid's observation arc by 30 years prior to its discovery.
In February 2006 and April 2011, two rotational light-curves of this asteroid were obtained from photometric observations made by French astronomers René Roy and Laurent Bernasconi, respectively. The fragmentary light-curves gave an identical rotation period of 7000960000000000000♠9.6 and 7000960000000000000♠9.6±0.5 hours with a respective brightness variation of 0.01 and 0.05 in magnitude (U=1/1). Such a low amplitude typically indicates that the body has a nearly spheroidal shape.
According to the space-based surveys carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) with its subsequent NEOWISE mission, the asteroid has an albedo of 0.10, and measures 17.0 and 15.2 kilometers in diameter, respectively. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for stony asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 19.3 kilometers. However, preliminary results obtained by NEOWISE are not in line with all other observations. NEOWISE finds a high albedo of 0.30 with a much lower diameter of 9.6. kilometers, and classifies it as a bright E-type asteroid, while CALL and the SMASS taxonomic scheme give it a metallic X-type spectrum.
The minor planet was named by the discoverer after his grandson, Alex R. Baltutis. Naming citation was published on 26 March 1986 (M.P.C. 10550).