It was discovered by American astronomer Edward Bowell at Lowell's U.S. Anderson Mesa Station in Flagstaff, Arizona, on 26 October 1984.

[6] The likely C-type asteroid has a rotation period of 7.1 hours and measures approximately 19 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter.

[6] This minor planet was named by the discoverer for prolific British amateur astronomer George Alcock (1912–2000), who visually discovered 5 comets and 4 novae.

[7] A rotational lightcurve of this asteroid was obtained from photometric observations made by French astronomer René Roy in February 2008.

[5] According to the spaced-based survey carried out by the Japanese Akari satellite, the asteroid measures 18.66 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo of 0.102,[4] while the Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.08 and calculates a diameter of 18.71 kilometers.