B8217;lore scientists discover new asteroid

8220;Bhargavi had gone to Kavalur for her project thesis on Gamma Ray bursts. After taking a few CCD 8212; Charge Coupled Device 8212; camera images of a field of Gamma-ray burst sources, she noticed a faint object moving on the CCDs,8221; he said.

She had taken six CCDs. Repeated observations of the same object had led Bhargavi, Velu and Gopal to inform the Minor Planet Centre in America which had temporarily designated the asteroid as X8217;.

8220;Its full designation is X C 1999 2208242; where C 1999 stands for the year and 220 stands for the Observatory,8221; the scientist said.

He explained that scientists all over the world would observe the planet for a year to find out whetherit had proper orbit. 8220;Only then will it be given a name,8221; he added.

This is the second asteroid to be discovered from the Vainu Bappu Observatory at Kavalur. The first was the Srinivasa Ramanujan8217; discovered by IIA8217;s scientists in 1989.