3045 Alois
3045 Alois, provisional designation, 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. It was named after the discoverer's grandfather Alois Stuczynski.
Orbit and classification
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. Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.11 and an inclination of 3° with respect to the ecliptic. 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.
Physical characteristics
The C-type body is also classified as an X-type asteroid by Pan-STARRS large-scale survey.
In November 2010, a rotational lightcurve of Alois was obtained from photometric observations made at the Palomar Transient Factory, California. It gave a rotation period of hours with a brightness amplitude of 0.18 in magnitude.
Diameter and albedo
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. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes a standard albedo for carbonaceous asteroids of 0.057 and calculates a diameter of 26.6 kilometers.
Naming
This minor planet was named by the discoverer in memory of his grandfather, Alois T. Stuczynski. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 7 March 1985.