Daksh Malik, a 14-year-old student from Shiv Nadar School, Noida, has made history by being selected by NASA to name an asteroid he discovered through the International Asteroid Discovery Project (IADP). The asteroid, currently named ‘2023 OG40,’ will receive a permanent name chosen by Malik.

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• Daksh Malik, a Class 9 student from Shiv Nadar School, Noida, has been recognized by NASA for discovering an asteroid.
• The asteroid, currently named ‘2023 OG40,’ was discovered as part of the International Asteroid Discovery Project (IADP).
• Malik and two of his friends hunted for asteroids under the IADP, a citizen science program affiliated with NASA.
• The program allows participants from around the world, including students, to discover new asteroids.
• IADP has over 6,000 global participants annually, but only a few discover new asteroids.
• Malik described the process of discovering the asteroid as a “fun exercise” where participants download datasets, calibrate them on Astronomica software, and check for moving objects in the sky.
• Before Daksh, five other Indian students had successfully discovered and named asteroids.
• Malik, who has long been fascinated by space, considers the experience a dream come true.
• NASA will take 4-5 years to verify the asteroid, after which Malik will be able to officially name it.
• Malik has some creative names in mind, such as ‘Destroyer of the World’ and ‘Countdown.’