Noida class 9 student discovers asteroid via NASA project

A 14-year-old boy from Shiv Nadar School in Noida has discovered an asteroid located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, thanks to his participation in a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) project.

The asteroid is currently named ‘2023 OG40’, denoting the year it was discovered, but Class 9 student Daksh Malik will soon have the honor of giving it a permanent name.

He submitted his preliminary detection of the asteroid last year, and now it has been officially confirmed by NASA as a "Provisional Discovery of a Main Belt Asteroid."

Talking to reporters, Daksh recently said he had been fascinated with space documentaries since he was much younger and that this opportunity was like a dream come true for him.

How the boy discovered the asteroid

Malik and two of his schoolmates had been looking for asteroids for almost a year and a half as part of the International Asteroid Discovery Project (IADP) under the mentorship of Dr. Patrick Miller from Hardin Simmons University.

The IADP is a collaboration between the International Astronomy Search Collaboration (IASC), Pan-STARRS, and NASA’s Citizen Science Project. They had learnt about the IASC when the school's astronomy club sent them an email about the same in 2022.

Noida student of Class 9 discovers asteroid with NASA program

It is a citizen science program by NASA which encourages students and the general public to use their software and datasets to help find undiscovered asteroids.

This collaborative project provided participants worldwide with access to high-quality astronomical data, including real images from the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii, to discover new asteroids and important Near-Earth Objects.

It sees around 6500 participants from over 80 countries each year hoping to find an asteroid, but only a few make it, and the Noida teenager was one of them, though it was only after submitting six preliminary detections.

With this, Daksh Malik joins an elite group in India, with just five other students, who have reported discovering an asteroid.

He credited his school's observatory and astronomy programs, and his teachers for providing an environment where he could nurture his passions.

"This journey has inspired me to reach for the stars - literally and figuratively - and I hope it encourages others to pursue their passions fearlessly," Daksh says.

Naming the asteroid

Daksh still hasn't made a final decision on the asteroid's name. He is oscillating between 'Destroyer of the World' and 'Countdown'. Whichever he chooses, the name change will not be immediate.

The NASA verification process after the "preliminary detection" of the asteroid could take up to four or five years. NASA first observed the asteroid for a second time and if it is proven to be an asteroid, the Minor Planet Centre (MPC) grants it provisional status.

After that, it would then be recognized as an official discovery after further observations. After that, the International Astronomical Union in Paris would catalogue it in the global record.

Only after a full verification will Malik get to officially name the asteroid.