* Astronomy

With two minor planets being named Senthalir and Sharanya after them, two girls from Coimbatore , Tamil Nadu have certainly reached for the stars!

It has been announced that Senthalir and Sharanya have been recognized for their contribution to science.

'I could not believe that this had happened. I scanned the mail thrice to confirm that I was not dreaming,' S Sharanya, daughter of P Sennimalai and Mallika, who received a letter from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, told the media.

P Senthalir and S Sharanya received letters a couple of days ago from the MIT, which stated that two minor planets discovered by the Linear programme of MIT Lincoln Laboratory had been named after them.

The minor planet numbered 17,091 is named after Senthalir, daughter of Paramathma and Vasanthi.
The other planet numbered 17,092 has been named after Sharanya.

This is in recognition of their achievement as finalists in the 2003 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, from 11- 17 May.

The duo, as a team, were then standard XI students of Avila Convent in Coimbatore, who had taken up the challenge to compete in the international fair.
They presented a research paper on 'Suppression of branching pattern in eucalyptus trees.' They proved their hypothesis that growth could be suppressed using neem oil, which fetched them the rare honour.

The experiment was conducted in three stages. In the first stage, lateral branches of select trees were pruned and neem oil solution applied on leaf axils, while in the second stage, the regenerated branches were repruned and neem oil applied. In the final stage, the apical shoots were topped and treated with 100 percent neem oil control.

'We found out during our tests that higher the concentration of the neem oil, higher the suppression of the growth, said Sharanya. 'We also found out that in neem oil, a chemical called `azadirachtin,' played a major part in the suppression of growth,' Senthalir pointed out.
They were honoured with the Fourth Grand Award in the international competition, held in Ohio, where about 3,000 students took part.

"Not even in my wildest dreams did I think that I would have a planet in my name," exclaimed Senthalir.

'Suppression of branches of trees helps in agro forestry by reducing the shade effect on crops, thereby increasing the productivity of annual crops,' said M Paramathma, who was the project guide of the girls.

He is the Head of the Department of Tree Breeding, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.
Sharanya, now a student of Coimbatore Institute of Technology (CIT), is doing her second year in IT.
Senthalir too is a student of IT at Kumaraguru College of Technology.

'This is really a feat which will linger in our minds forever,' both the girls opined in unison.

Some of the prominent personalities whose names have been given to planets include Giuseppe Piazzi, McCartney, Curie, Einstein and Van Gogh. Last, but not the least, in this line India has Senthalir and Sharanya's name too.


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