An Amateur’s Discovery

A Brazilian amateur astronomer just made a rare discovery of a new asteroid that orbits the Sun once every 3.26 years. While automated professional observatories both in space and ground-based are constantly searching for new planetary objects to catalog, this discovery serves as a reminder that given the vastness of space, there’s room for everyone to contribute!

To read more about the methods and equipment Leonardo Amaral used to discover this as-yet unknown asteroid, read the full article from Sky & Telescope here:

Amateur Astronomer Finds Kilometer-size Asteroid - Sky & Telescope

We have not yet found all the large, potentially hazardous near-Earth objects, as highlighted by the recent discovery of a kilometer-size asteroid. Amateur astronomer Leonardo Amaral was scanning the skies on the night of August 27th, imaging a region in the constellation Indus, when he picked up a cosmic interloper: the asteroid 2020 QU 6.

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