High School Sophomores Discover Asteroid 126
Several readers sent us the story of three high school sophomores in Racine, Wisconsin who were just notified that a celestial body they had discovered during a science project has been verified as an asteroid. The students at Racine's Prairie School will be given the opportunity to name the asteroid in about four years. They used a telescope in New Mexico, belonging to a college in Michigan, that they controlled over the Net.
Why wait 4 years? (Score:5, Insightful)
Also: I suppose those guys must ace all those two-picture "spot the 10 differences" tests after this...
Re:Why wait 4 years? (Score:5, Insightful)
A genuine question from a genuine ignoramus (Score:1, Insightful)
I doubt THEY really discovered it (Score:5, Insightful)
this leaves with the impression this guys just got lucky. It's like they identified each faint dot as an asteroid, and one just turned out to be exactly that. I imagine they just pointed at each dot
Students:Is this an asteroid?someone knowledgeable:No
Students:Is this an asteroid?
someone knowledgeable:No
Students:Is this an asteroid?
someone knowledgeable:No..wait Yes
Students: Ha we are smart!
However I do give the students credit for initiative, it's refreshing to see that some kids still have interest in science (other then computing)