Ever heard of the asteroid 380607 Sharma? It is an asteroid named after Amar A Sharma of Bangalore.
Amar says he has been curious about stars like all kids. His parents too supported him to pursue his interests.
In 2002, he met Dr B S Shylaja (now director) at the city’s Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium. She became a mentor to him. He also met several senior amateur astronomers there.
Amar says, “I am in no way associated with this asteroid. David Levy discovered it in 2004 when I was still learning astronomy. I got in touch with him only two years ago as I am extremely active in amateur astronomy. I had begun to work on a biography of world comet hunters and wanted to compile their lives together. David Levy, discoverer of 23 comets and author of nearly as many books, is one of the most accomplished astronomers.”
During their original discovery, asteroids are given a “provisional discovery” name. It was called 2004 TV69 (69 is subscript). When the asteroid came in its second periodic return, the International Astronomical Union was able to confirm it in an established orbit and then the discoverer has a right to name it after whatever he wants — humans, mythological figures, television characters, geographical objects, etc. based on some rules.
Amar says, “Only Levy knows why he thought of honouring me! It must be for my passion towards astronomy. I have surrendered my life to astronomy and pursue it every single day, every single hour for the last 12 years.”
To spot the asteroid one will need a very advanced amateur set up — a decently larger aperture and a sensitive CCD camera — under a very dark clear sky. “I heard that it is around 22 magnitude because it is hardly 2 km in size, which is going to be extremely difficult to capture from ground here. It is very, very faint,” he added.
Currently Amar works for spreading awareness and passion of astronomy to one and all at the Nikaya Observatory facility off Attibele-Hosur on Thally Road.
Mouli Raman, CEO and MD of OnMobile software in Bangalore is the owner of Nikaya Observatory, which is India’s first private observatory for the public.
Amar’s future plans include making a documentary film on comet hunters and he is currently writing a book on amateur astronomy.
