Written by Amrita Prakash, a grade 7 student.

Two teenage Indian schoolgirls have discovered an asteroid heading toward India!

Who, what, how?

Radhika Lakhani and Vaidehi Vekariya, both in 10th grade in the city of Surat, discovered the asteroid while working on an asteroid search project that was conducted by SPACE India and the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC), which is affiliated with NASA. The project allows students to look at and analyze images taken by a telescope which is positioned at the University of Hawaii telescope. They used special software for analyzing the images.

The two girls, aged 14 have been training at SPACE India, a private Space institute. They discovered the asteroid in June, which is now named HLV2514.

Vaidehi Vekariya said that she wants to become an astronaut, while Radhika Lakhani, said she was working hard on her studies. She added that she does not even have a TV at home so that she can concentrate on her studies.

What are asteroids?

Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. However, they are much smaller than planets. Most asteroids live in what’s called the main asteroid belt – the area between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

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