8-year-old Brazilian Nicole Oliveira, hunts for asteroids as part of a NASA-affiliated program. This little girl also attends international seminars, and meets leading scientific figures in her country.
Now, he is known as the youngest astronomer in the world. Her parents said that the interest of the girl who is nicknamed Nicolinha in astronomy has been seen since she was a toddler. When Nicolinha was just learning to walk, she often raised her hand to point at the stars in the sky.
Nicolinha's room is also filled with posters of the Solar System, mini rockets, and Star Wars figures. At a young age, he was very interested in lingering in front of the computer, studying the pictures of the sky on two large screens facilitated by his father and mother.
Quoted from Science Alert, the daughter of the couple Jean Carlo Lessa Semião and Zilma Janacá Oliveira de Lima Semião is working on a project called Asteroid Hunters. The program aims to introduce young people to science by providing them with their own space for space discovery.
Asteroid Hunters is run by the International Astronomical Search Collaboration, a scientific program for ordinary citizens affiliated with NASA, in collaboration with the Brazilian Ministry of Science. So far, Nicolinha has discovered 18 asteroids in the program.
"I named the asteroid after Brazilian scientists, or members of my family, after my father and mother," Nicolinha said proudly.
When her findings are certified, which may take a few years, Nicole will be the youngest person in the world to officially discover an asteroid, breaking the previous record held by 18-year-old Italian Luigi Sannino.
"He's really talented. The kid immediately sees dots in the picture that look like asteroids and often tells his classmates when they're not sure they've actually found them," said Heliomarzio Rodrigues Moreira, Nicole's astronomy teacher.
"The most important thing and what I am most proud of is that he shares his knowledge with other children. He contributes to the spread of knowledge," he added.
