Aryan Zishan Ahmed, an engineering student from Assam, has been honoured by the US space agency NASA for discovering two asteroids located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Aryan Zishan Ahmed is a first-semester B.Tech student in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM). A resident of Rangia town in Assam’s Kamrup district, his achievement has brought pride to his family, educational institutions, and the region at large.
The discovery was made during an official research mission conducted under the International Astronomical Research Collaboration (IASC). Through detailed analysis of astronomical data, Aryan identified two previously unrecorded main-belt asteroids, which have now been designated as 2024 VE8 and 2024 VC23.
USTM announced the honour on its official Facebook page, congratulating Aryan for his remarkable accomplishment at an early stage of his academic career.
Aryan carried out the research by analysing data from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS), operated by the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii in collaboration with NASA.
The eldest son of Mirajul Islam, principal of Jaintipur Yogeshwar Vidyapeeth, and Ruma Nazreen, Aryan said that such discoveries contribute to a better understanding of the origin of the solar system and play an important role in monitoring celestial bodies in space.