Jhalawar school collapse victims to get asteroid named after them

Kota: Students of a school in Jhalawar district have decided to name one of the four asteroids they discovered during 2020-2021 after the seven children killed in a building collapse in July 2025. Twenty-seven more students were seriously injured when the building of a government school in Piplodi of Jhalwar collapsed.

The asteroids were discovered by the students of Government Senior Secondary School, Unhel, Jhalawar. The four rocks have now completed a full orbit around the Sun and have been assigned permanent numbers, Pan-STARRS, at the international level, confirming that their orbits are fully established and scientifically verified. These four asteroids were discovered by Sugandha Kumari, Komal Kunwar, Harshita Dangi and Sanjay Kumar, who are now pursuing higher education in different colleges.

Under the guidance of Google-certified educator Divyendu Sen, posted at Mahatma Gandhi Government School, Pachpahar in Jhalawar, the students participated in the IASC-NASA Asteroid Search Campaign. More than 100 students have taken part in the programme so far and have collectively discovered 12 main-belt asteroids.

Speaking about the allotment of permanent numbers to the four asteroids, Sen said they received an email from the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC) last month. The communication stated that one of the four numbered asteroids has been reserved for the survey organisation, while the remaining three are eligible for name proposals by the student discoverers.

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The naming will be carried out in accordance with international guidelines, he added. Sen told PTI that the discoverers have expressed their wish in writing to propose the name of one of their asteroids in memory of the seven deceased schoolchildren. The name currently under consideration is PRAMISHKA, forged by combining the initial letters of the names of the seven deceased – Payal (13), Priyanka (12), Meena (12), Harish (11), Kundan (10), Kanha (7), and Satish (8).

Sen said other acronyms are also being explored before a final decision is taken. "We did not want the naming to be just a symbolic act. The students told me that science becomes meaningful only when it touches lives. The name PRAMISHKA is formed from the combined initials of the Piplodi children. By sending this name to space, we want their memory to orbit the Sun forever. For us, this is not only astronomy; this is remembrance with love and dignity," Sen said.

He added that asteroids remain in the solar system for millions of years and, once a name is approved by the International Astronomical Union, it becomes a permanent part of scientific literature. "Our humble wish is that PRAMISHKA becomes that eternal identity for them," he said.

Sen said the final approval rests with the International Astronomical Union. "We are in touch with coordinators and authorities, and will submit the full supporting details when invited to do so," he said. Jhalawar Chief District Education Officer Ram Singh Meena told PTI that naming an asteroid after the deceased children would be the true act of remembrance, and that the department has agreed to follow up on the request.