---
title: Undergraduate Astronomers Observe Rare Asteroid Eclipse
date: 2025-04-18T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/undergraduate-astronomers-observe-rare-asteroid-eclipse"
section: Articles
---
# Undergraduate Astronomers Observe Rare Asteroid Eclipse

*April 18, 2025* — by [Georgia Jiang](/author/georgia-jiang)


> Students Co-author Paper After Analyzing Celestial ‘Fossils’ That Hint at Solar System’s Birth

*Jupiter trojans artists concept 1920x1080 — An artist’s concept of the Jupiter Trojan asteroids, mysterious space rocks that orbit around Jupiter in its path around the sun.*

When images of a distant asteroid called 617 Patroclus grew dim across Oliver O’Brien’s computer screen, they knew that they were witnessing something rare.

“We were observing what’s called ‘mutual events’ between Patroclus and another similarly sized asteroid in its orbit called Menoetius,” said O’Brien ’26, a University of Maryland astronomy and anthropology dual-degree student. “These two asteroids circle each other every 103 hours, but once in a while, they pass in front of each other or shadow each other from our perspective. We knew we only had one chance at capturing these mutual events within our time constraints.”


*class poses for photo*



**Sidebar note:**

All through April, Maryland Today will celebrate how the University of Maryland is reimagining learning and teaching. Find more stories at [today.umd.edu/topic/we-reimagine-learning](https://today.umd.edu/topic/we-reimagine-learning).





**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Astronomy](https://today.umd.edu/topic/astronomy), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research), [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)


**Units:** [College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-computer-mathematical-and-natural-sciences)