Udaipur, March 24, 2025 - Four students from Mahatma Gandhi Government School (MGGS), Pachpahar, Jhalawar, Rajasthan, have discovered a new asteroid in space. The asteroid was found during the Asteroid Search Campaign-2024 organized by the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC). The asteroid, provisionally named 2024BA20, was found in the Main Asteroid Belt (MAB) between Mars and Jupiter. This region contains millions of space rocks.

The Class 12 science students who made the discovery are Mohit Sharma, Mohit Porwal, Jatin Javarani, and Vivek Soni. They were guided by their teacher Divyendu Sen, a state-level awardee. The students analyzed real-time telescope images from Hawaii Island using a special software called Astrometrica. Their findings were confirmed by IASC.

NASA Partnership and Recognition

The discovery was officially acknowledged by IASC. The students will get certificates and can track the asteroid’s position using NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab website. They will also get a chance to name the asteroid after its orbit is fully observed.

The principal of MGGS, Farnish Kumar Vijay, expressed pride in the school’s name being recognized on an international platform. In the past four years, government school students from Jhalawar have discovered 11 asteroids, with over 75 students participating in the campaign.

Source: Media Reports