4118 Sveta, or by provisional designation, , is an Eoan
asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere.
...
from the outer regions of the
asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...
, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 15 October 1982, by Russian astronomer
Lyudmila Zhuravleva
Lyudmila Vasilyevna Zhuravleva (russian: Людмила Васильевна Журавлёва, uk, Людмила Василівна Журавльова, Ljudmyla Vasylivna Žuravljova; born 22 May 1946) is a Soviet, Russian and Ukrainian ast ...
at the
Crimean Astrophysical Observatory
The Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO, List of observatory codes, obs. code: IAU code#095, 095) is located at Nauchnij research campus, near the Central Crimean city of Bakhchysarai, on the Crimean peninsula. CrAO is often called ...
in Nauchnij, on the Crimean peninsula. The asteroid was named after Soviet cosmonaut
Svetlana Savitskaya
Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya (russian: Светла́на Евге́ньевна Сави́цкая; born 8 August 1948) is a Russian former aviator and Soviet cosmonaut who flew aboard Soyuz T-7 in 1982, becoming the second woman in space. O ...
.
Orbit and classification
''Sveta'' is a member the
Eos family The Eos family (''adj. Eoan'' ; ) is a very large asteroid family located in the outer region of the asteroid belt. The family of K-type asteroids is believed to have formed as a result of an ancient catastrophic collision. The family's parent body ...
(), the largest
asteroid family
An asteroid family is a population of asteroids that share similar proper orbital elements, such as semimajor axis, eccentricity, and orbital inclination. The members of the families are thought to be fragments of past asteroid collisions. An a ...