NASA supported International Astronomical Search Collaboration’s (IASC) Turkey national partner, the Asteroid Explorer Project, has achieved an important success in Turkey for the first time.
Since the beginning of the project, Duzce Science and Art Center (BILSEM) student, 14-year-old Omer Selim Esen and advisor teacher Ayse Karaul Arslan, discovered Turkey’s first asteroid. This discovery, made in collaboration with IASC, also marks the first time a team from Turkey has discovered a celestial body in the Solar System.
The International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center (MPC) assigned the asteroid the catalog number 719840.
The team that made the discovery was given the right to name the asteroid. Esen and Karaul Arslan, along with other Duzce BILSEM students, decided to name the asteroid “Bilsem Duzce”. Thus, the asteroid officially became known as “(719840) Bilsemduzce” in the international literature.
This discovery coming from Duzce BILSEM, established as the first Science and Art Center in Turkey in 2009, is also evidence of the dedicated work of students in BILSEM. The name “Bilsem Duzce” not only represents Duzce BILSEM but also aims to promote the name of Duzce, the latest province to gain city status, and all BILSEM centers throughout Turkey.
The official announcement of the asteroid discovery was made on October 12, 2024, at the 1st Astronomy Festival held at Rami Library by H. Aziz Kayıhan, one of the founders of the Asteroid Explorer Project, and the teacher who made the discovery, Ayse Karaul Arslan.
### WHAT IS THE ASTEROID EXPLORER PROJECT?
The Asteroid Explorer Project was launched in 2017 with the slogan “Turkey is Looking for an Asteroid”. The project aims to provide middle and high school students in Turkey with the opportunity to explore real astronomical images and discover asteroids.
As part of the project, images of the sky obtained from the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii through IASC have been delivered to more than 2,500 students in over 300 institutions throughout Turkey over the past 7 years.
Asteroid discovery campaigns are conducted with data provided to students from the last quarter phase to the first quarter phase every month. Students, under the guidance of advisor teachers, analyze the data they obtain using the Astrometrica program to identify asteroids and report their findings.
The observation reports they prepare are sent to the Minor Planet Center (MPC). After the confirmation that the discovered asteroid is an unknown object, professional astronomers calculate the orbit parameters of the asteroid in detail to formalize the discovery. This process can take 3 to 10 years depending on the orbit of the asteroid.
