Noida Teen 'Discovers' Asteroid, NASA To Let Him Decide Name After Verification

A teenager from Noida, has been recognised by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) after he discovered an asteroid. The asteroid, provisionally named "2023 OG40," was identified through the International Asteroid Discovery Project (IADP). The boy will get to pick a permanent name for the asteroid once NASA completes its verification process, which may take up to five years.

“I've been fascinated with space…I used to watch all these documentaries on National Geographic about planets and the solar system. This is like a dream come true,” The Print quoted Daksh Malik, a Class 9 student of Noida's Shiv Nadar School, as saying.

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For a year and a half, Malik and two of his school friends, had been hunting for asteroids under the International Asteroid Discovery Project (IADP). They got this opportunity in 2022, when the astronomy club of their school sent an email about the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC).

Under the IASC, a citizen science programme affiliated to NASA, people – including students – from around the world can ‘discover’ asteroids for the US space agency.

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IADP, which is conducted by the organisation STEM & Space, along with the IASC, has over 6,000 participants every year from around the world, of whom only a few are able to discover new asteroids.

The IASC website states that before Daksh, five other students from India had managed to discover a named asteroid.