Rons Bantwal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Aug 23: Two students of Ryan International School, Gurgaon have discovered an asteroid, a feat confirmed by the international scientific community.

The asteroid has been provisionally named as 2013 PR and is waiting to be placed in the world’s official minor body catalogue maintained by the International Astronomical Union (Paris). Balachandra Routhu and Ayush Gupta, both class 10 stu¬dents of Ryan International School, Sohna Road, Gurgaon made the discovery in July as part of the All India Asteroids Search Campaign (AIASC) by SPACE Foundation held in collaboration with the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (LASC), a state¬ment from SPACE said.

 The participants who receive specialized and advanced training provided by SPACE, analyzed the images of the sky taken with the 24” 32” and 30” telescopes located at the Astronomical Research Institute (ARI) observatory, at Charleston, Illinois (US) to make original discoveries of asteroids and near earth objects (NEO) with the help of a software.

Dr Patrick Miller, director, IASC confirmed: “The students are just one step closer to having the asteroid numbered and placed in the world’s official minor body catalogue maintained by the International Astronomical Union (Paris).” 

Sachin Bahmba, chairman and managing director, SPACE Group, and the man behind this project, said, “Congratulations to the students of Ryan International School, for provisional discovery of main belt asteroid. You have doubled the joy of India’s independence and brought a proud moment for our Country. AIASC Phase III saw 99 NEO observations, 01 NEO confirmation, 06 Preliminary Discoveries.”