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Although the student successfully discovered the asteroid 2023 OG40, it will take NASA about 4 to 5 years to complete the initial tests and verify the discovery.
The student is working on NASA’s citizen science program. (Photo Credit: X)
Daksh Malik, a student of Shiv Nadar School in Noida, created history, receiving NASA’s prestigious recognition for discovering an asteroid. It grants him the rare privilege to name the asteroid, temporarily called 2023 OG40. His fascination with space began after watching National Geographic documentaries inspiring him to follow this path. For 18 months, he has been working on an asteroid research program called the International Asteroid Discovery Project (IADP). Malik was attached to this project with two friends after his school’s astronomy club sent an email about the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC), a citizen science program by NASA.
Interestingly, the 14-year-old is among the five other Indian students who have discovered a named asteroid. Speaking with The Print, Malik said, “I’ve been fascinated with space since I was little. I used to watch all these documentaries on National Geographic about planets and the solar system. It is like a dream come true.”
Using special software, called Astronomica, they examined NASA’s data to look for signs of asteroids. Daksh Malik and his friends closely watched how objects moved and the light they emitted. They followed strict rules to figure out which objects could be asteroids.
The student explained, “It was a lot of fun to just do this exercise. When I was looking for asteroids I felt like I was working at NASA myself. I thought maybe I could call it Destroyer of the World. Or since it’s an asteroid maybe Countdown would be a catchy yet ominous-sounding name.”
Although Daksh Malik successfully discovered the asteroid 2023 OG40, it will take NASA about 4 to 5 years to complete the initial tests and verify the discovery. Once this process is finished, he will have the chance to name the asteroid. According to Sappna Kapur, Malik’s mother, “If I’m being honest, Daksh isn’t as keen about the results as he is about the process of something. Once he got interested in astronomy, I knew he would want to see it through no matter the results.”
Even though Malik is the first student from his school to reach this achievement and spent 18 months on the project, his ambitions are beyond astronomy. While he finds astronomy fascinating, his true passion is in law and the judiciary.
- Location :
Delhi, India, India
