KOCHI: Space and its mysteries have fascinated people for ages. However, unlike many, this 13-year-old decided to work towards unravelling some of them. And to do that, he got himself included in NASA’s Citizen Science Programme.
Shreyas Girish, a Class 8 student of GEMS Academy in Kakkanad, has not only identified four asteroids but also has one of them officially listed by the Minor Planet Center, which operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) under the auspices of Division F (formerly Division III, and before that, Commission 20) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in the United States. He has also been recorded as the youngest Indian to discover an asteroid.
“My space journey began when I came to know about NASA’s Citizen Science Programme,” Shreyas tells TNIE.
“I wasn’t studying aerospace or doing any research in a laboratory. I was just a self-driven space enthusiast determined to make a mark.”
The youngster shot off an email to NASA, expressing his desire to enrol in the programme.
“And they replied! They wanted me to appear for an evaluation that is conducted by Illinois University in collaboration with NASA. My first real research experience came through Project Illinois, a space education initiative. After scoring high in their evaluations, I was personally recommended by NASA for asteroid discovery campaigns,” says the Vaikom resident.
After getting the green signal from NASA, Shreyas entered the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC) Asteroid Search Campaign.
“IASC is a global programme supported by NASA and the Hawaii-based Pan-STARRS research project. Here, participants analyse real telescope data to discover asteroids. My first campaign was with a national-level team called Milky Way Explorer. Here, I learnt the process of asteroid detection and analysis,” he says.
Now, the youngster leads his own search team. “I lead the international search team called Universal Observatory. It is a direct search team under IASC. I’m currently collaborating with participants across India and abroad,” Shreyas says.
Explaining how the asteroid discovery works, he says the participants receive FITS images from the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii.
“We then use Astrometrica software to analyse objects and identify moving objects (potential asteroids). They are then cross-checked with star catalogues to weed out the known ones,” he points out.The data is then submitted to IASC which sends it to the Minor Planet Center (MPC). Once the data gets verified, the MPC declares that a new asteroid has been discovered. Shreyas made four such discoveries.
“Three of them have been tagged preliminary discoveries (ones that are under continued tracking) and one provisional discovery (officially listed by MPC). The latter one is rare for anyone,” says Shreyas.
He was also featured on the IASC website for his provisional asteroid discovery. Besides, the youngster has bagged a few awards and records. “I have been named the youngest Indian to discover asteroids, recognised by the India Book of Records, listed in the Worldwide Book of Records, and won the International Star Kids Award,” he says.