An Ontario preteen may be one of the youngest Canadians to encounter an asteroid.
Siddharth Patel, a 12-year-old boy who lives in London, Ontario (west of Toronto), detected two possible asteroids in September as part of a citizen science program that partners with NASA, according to the Toronto Star.
Siddharth told the Star that he is pursuing his love for astronomy — has been using a telescope since he was five years old, with the support of parents without space experience, after finishing school activities.
“Space is not really taught in schools,” he said. “I really started doing things about space after I came back from school, because school is the academic time. And then it’s the time when I pursue my interests and dreams.”
While confirming asteroid orbits can take up to a decade, Patel has another big project in mind: becoming an astronaut. He recently joined the youth-focused Royal Canadian Air Cadets to learn how to fly a plane, the Star reported. This follows the path of notable Canadian Space Agency astronauts like Jeremy Hansen (who will fly around the moon as part of NASA Artemis 2 mission next year) and Chris Hadfieldthe first Canadian to command the International Space Station.
Siddharth found the asteroids through the International Astronomical Search Collaboration, which uses images from the Hawaiian Pan-STARRS facility and the Arizona-based Catalina Sky Survey for asteroid searches. While Siddharth’s two space rocks reside in the main area asteroid belt between Mars and JupiterThe collaboration may also find near-Earth asteroids and trans-Neptunian objects (orbiting the planet). sun beyond Neptune), according to nasa.
Tentative asteroid discoveries are not Siddharth’s only space accolades. Its image of comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) next to the Milky Way received the People’s Choice Award at DarkSky International 2025 Capture the darkness photography contest.
“I love taking photographs with my telescopes”, Siddharth he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. “When I go somewhere dark, or somewhere that has a lot of stars, it really ignites my sense of wonder. I’ve learned how mysterious space really is.”
