A new asteroid has been identified by two Delhi students as part of a unique astronomy project connected to the US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Small planet like objects called as asteroids are generally found moving in orbits, around the sun, located between Mars and Jupiter. Sometimes these are nudged by gravitational forces out of their orbits and can come into contact with Earth. Amanjot Singh and Sahil Wadhwa, both Class 12 students of Ryan International School, discovered a main belt asteroid (2010 PO24) on August 6 as part of the All India Asteroid Search Campaign (AIASC).
The campaign conducted between May 17 and June 30 and from July 1 to August 13, was introduced in India for the first time and about 30-45 schools were involved in it. This year 11 countries on four continents participated in it. Behind involving school students in the project was the Science Popularization Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) along with the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC), an international educational outreach programme.
