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Schools from across the UK have named a new asteroid discovered using the Faulkes Telescope Project's facility in Hawaii. The mountain-sized asteroid, found between Mars and Jupiter, has been officially named Snowdonia as a tribute to the beauty of this famous Welsh region.
The asteroid was officially recognised as part of a Near-Earth Object observing programme with German astronomers Lothar Kurtze and Felix Harmouth. UK schoolchildren were recruited by the Faulkes Telescope (FT) Education Director David Bowdley in spring 2006. They conducted the follow-up observations necessary to better understand the asteroid's orbit and ensure its recognition by astronomy authorities.
David Bowdley said: "Helping to study this asteroid and choose a name for it has been a great inspiration for the students. Working alongside real scientists has shown how much more can be achieved when people collaborate. In future we will be running many more projects like this where students work alongside astronomers to achieve real scientific outcomes."
More info: Faulkes Telescope
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