asteroid
An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...
from the outer regions of the
asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids ...
, approximately 22 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered by Belgian astronomer
Sylvain Arend
Sylvain Julien Victor Arend (6 August 1902 – 18 February 1992) was a Belgian astronomer born in Robelmont, Luxembourg province, Belgium. His main interest was astrometry.
Together with Georges Roland, he discovered the bright comet C/1956 ...
at the
Royal Observatory of Belgium
The Royal Observatory of Belgium (; ; ) has been situated in the Uccle municipality of Brussels since 1890. It is part of the institutions of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO).
The Royal Observatory was first established in S ...
in Uccle on 25 August 1933. The asteroid was named for Laura de Sołohub Dikyj, wife of Polish astronomer Tadeusz Banachiewicz.
Orbit and classification
''Lorcia'' 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. This family of K-type asteroids is believed to have formed as a result of an ancient catastrophic collision. The family's parent b ...
(), 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 ...