Alku

Alku may refer to:

3037 Alku

3037 Alku, provisional designation 1944 BA, is a carbonaceous asteroid from the middle region of the asteroid belt, about 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 shows an eccentricity of 0.19 and is tilted by 19 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic.

Photometric measurements of the asteroid made in 2005 at the U.S. Palmer Divide Observatory in Colorado showed a light-curve with a rotation period of 11.8 hours and a brightness variation of 0.08 in magnitude. It has an albedo in the range of 0.03–0.11, according to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite, and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link derives an intermediate albedo of 0.09.

The minor planet was named for the boat the discoverer enjoyed in his boyhood. It was built by the father of the discoverer and instilled in him a lifelong love of sailing. In the Finnish language, the boat's name means "the beginning".