“International Astronomy” discovers a new asteroid in the solar system

The head of the International Astronomical Centre in Abu Dhabi, Eng. Khalfan bin Sultan Al Nuaimi, announced that one of the International Astronomical Centre’s staff was able to discover an asteroid located in the asteroid belt in the solar system. This came through analysing astronomical images made available by a programme sponsored by the US space agency NASA and with the participation of international astronomical bodies, namely Hardin-Simmons University in Texas, the Pan-STARRS telescope and the Catalina Sky Survey programme.

In detail, Eng. Khalfan bin Sultan Al Nuaimi confirmed the success of the Director of the International Astronomy Center, Eng. Mohammed Shawkat Odeh, in discovering an asteroid while analyzing images taken by one of the telescopes of the Haleakala Observatory, specifically the Pan-STARRS 2 telescope, which is an observatory located in the US state of Hawaii. The diameter of the telescope is 1.8 meters and is symbolized by the symbol F52. The telescope’s field of view is 3 degrees, and it is equipped with an astronomical camera with a sensor that is considered the largest for a digital astronomical camera, as its resolution is 1.8 billion pixels!

He explained that the images are analyzed using a specialized astronomical program, where four images of the same spot in the sky are uploaded and photographed sequentially in time. The image analyst’s task is to process these images and observe any moving object within these four images. In the event that a moving object is observed, it is first compared to known celestial objects. If it turns out to be a previously undiscovered object, a report is sent to the relevant astronomical authorities.

Al-Naimi pointed out that when analyzing one of the image sets, this asteroid was discovered and given the code “2022 UY56”. Following this discovery, the initial discovery certificate was sent to Engineer Awda, noting that this asteroid will continue to carry this number for several years until extensive observations are conducted to accurately determine its orbit. It will then be given the permanent number, and the discoverer will be officially announced by the International Astronomical Union, and asked to name this asteroid.

For his part, the discoverer of the new asteroid, Engineer Mohammed Odeh, explained that this asteroid is located within the asteroid belt in the solar system, and it orbits the sun once every 4 years at a distance of approximately 375 million km from the sun, and it orbits in a relatively elliptical orbit with an eccentricity of 0.22, and an inclination from the ecliptic of 11 degrees, and when it was discovered it was shining at magnitude 21 and now it is shining at magnitude 24.5.

He said: “It turned out that this asteroid had been photographed several times before its discovery, the first of which dates back to 2006, and it carries other temporary numbers such as the symbol “2006 XN23”. All of these observations are called pre-discovery observations, and they work to improve and refine the asteroid’s orbit.