Categories: Astronomy

High School Students Discover Asteroid

Here’s another wonderful example of how amateur astronomers can make important discoveries. Three high school students from Wisconsin discovered an asteroid while doing an astronomical observation project for a class in school. Connor Leipold, Tim Patika, and Kyle Simpson of The Prairie School near Racine were notified this week by the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts that the object they discovered has been verified as an asteroid.

The students will have the opportunity to name the asteroid, temporarily designated as 2008 AZ28. They spotted the asteroid through telescopes located in New Mexico that operate remotely via the internet. The technology was provided through a project sponsored by Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

As Fraser and Pamela commented on their Astronomy Cast episode about amateur astronomy, “Astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs make can meaningful contributions and discoveries.” And here’s proof. So the rest of you, go out there and start looking!

Remove All Ads on Universe Today

Join our Patreon for as little as $3!

Get the ad-free experience for life

Original New Source: NewsDaily

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/