Ding Shushan, 17, a senior middle school girl, says she takes her new semester as another waveless battle to vie for college entrance exam two years away.

But Ding's asteroid discovery Aug. 31, on the eve of the new semester, has made the quiet-scholarly girl a talk topic in the school, as she is now the second female amateur astronomer in the world who has spotted a fast moving space object, or FMO.

Ding spotted at noon Wednesday a short streak of light in a real-time star chart, while going over telescope pictures on the Internet for the University of Arizona's Spacewatch FMO project.

"My instinct told me it's a new FMO," Ding acknowledged, "so I submitted the image to Spacewatch as a FMO candidate and, two hours later, I got an E-mail from the FMO project to congratulate my discovery."

In late 2003, the Arizona-based Spacewatch group started enlisting public volunteers to help search its on-line images for FMO, by logging onto a website and downloading images taken by a telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, the United States.

The FMO Project volunteers have so far made 26 confirmed asteroid discoveries.

The asteroid, about 86 meters in diameter, was enlisted as 2005QQ87 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on Friday.

The Minor Planet Center's Ephemeris Service predicts that recovery opportunities for 2005 QQ87 are "very, very promising" in2006. If the orbit can be properly set, this could in the near future be a very intriguing target for a dedicated space mission.

"I was lucky, as I only reviewed 186 images before I spotted this asteroid, whereas some observers scroll through thousands of images to spot one," said Ding, who became obsessed in astronomy via books bought by her father from Beijing when she was a little girl.

Ding's dad, who showed her the "gate" of the fascinating world, is not supportive for her interest, for the fear that spending hour after hour before computer or telescope could snatch away hertime to learn.

Nevertheless, Ding secretly enlisted in her school's astronomy society. "It is no easy job to find one of these asteroids." Lin Lan, Ding's tutor at the society told Xinhua. "Sharp eyesight, keen interest and unfailing patience are essential for FMO observation."

"Ding's six reports (of new FMO) have turned out to be untrue since she became a volunteer observer for FMO project six month ago. And it often takes hours to access and observe a telescoped on-line image." Lin said.

The asteroid discovery has given rise to an astronomical surge. Lin has received more than 100 applications for joining the society on Monday alone.

"I'm just a star fan, and I have too much to learn." Ding said, bracing with her fellows in the society for an astronomical exhibition.

(Xinhua News Agency September 8, 2005)