Asteroid Discovery in Uttar Pradesh | 04 Feb 2025

Recently, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has recognized Daksh Malik, a Class 9 student from Noida, for his provisional discovery of an asteroid, currently labeled as ‘2023 OG40.’

Participation in the International Asteroid Discovery Project (IADP):
- Along with two school friends, the student has actively participated in the IADP which introduced them to the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC).
- The IASC, a NASA-affiliated citizen science initiative, enables global participation in asteroid discovery.
  - It allows students and astronomy enthusiasts worldwide to analyze celestial data and contribute to scientific research.
A Rare Achievement:
- Despite more than 6,000 participants joining the IADP annually, only a few successfully identify new asteroids.
- Before this discovery, only five students from the country had ever achieved a named asteroid discovery.
Naming the Asteroid:
- This achievement also gives the privilege of naming the celestial body after its verification process, which may take around four to five years.

Asteroids, also referred to as minor planets, are remnants from the early stages of our solar system's formation approximately 4.6 billion years ago.
They predominantly exhibit irregular shapes, though some display nearly spherical forms.
Many asteroids are accompanied by small moons, with some even having two moons.
Additionally, binary asteroids consist of two similar-sized rocky bodies orbiting each other, and there are also triple asteroid systems.