It is possible that, one day, an asteroid unknowingly collides with our planet, Earth, and… BOOM! It would be the end of humans and many other species. This is how countless dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago.
How to prevent this from happening? If you ask 5-year-old Miro Latansio Tsai that question, he knows exactly where to start: you need to hunt for asteroids! And Miro is a notorious asteroid hunter, check it out!
Asteroids are space boulders orbiting our Sun. There are those tiny, practically irrelevant ones, up to a few meters in diameter, to others with more than 10 kilometers from one end to the other, like the one that ended the non-avian dinosaurs.
(Avian dinosaurs are the ones that evolved into modern birds; meaning, if you didn’t already know, we have dinosaurs everywhere and chances are you’ve had one for lunch one of these days.)
Miro has always been passionate about nature, space, science and math, says his mother, lawyer Carla. At the age of 2, he already knew the names of all the planets in the Solar System (do you remember all of them?). At 4, Miro drew a picture of the Big Bang and the expansion of the Universe. He recently attended the classic series “Cosmos”, of the 1980s, presented by astronomer Carl Sagan, and learned even more, from supernovas to black holes.
Carla and Jack, Miro’s father and business administrator, asked his son if he wanted to take advantage of the time at home, at the beginning of the pandemic, to participate in some projects open to the public of NASA, the American special agency, of the Ministry of Science and Technology and Innovations in Brazil, which today commanded by astronaut Marcos Pontes, and the IASC, an acronym for International Astronomical Search Collaboration.
One of these projects was precisely the Asteroid Hunt, in which people from all over the world pore over computer images in search of space boulders. “I use the program [de computador] Astrometrics to analyze the images, which come from the telescope [Pan-Starrs] from Hawaii”, says Miro.
By carefully looking at sequences of space images, it is possible, from time to time, to identify small points that appear to be moving — it could be an asteroid! “You have to train, and have a good vision, to be able to find the asteroid, and be patient”, explains the space hunter. There are already 15 objects found by Miro.
“Students, as they dedicate themselves to the subject, improve not only in it, but also in other subjects. Astronomy is passionate and other young people, when they find out [do programa]also want to participate”, says astronaut Marcos Pontes.
After being nominated by challenge participants, asteroid candidates go through a very careful validation process, which can take a few years. Only then is it possible to know characteristics such as the shape of the orbit and the size of the asteroid (and the size of the trouble if it passes too close to Earth).
To help colleagues interested in participating in asteroid hunts and other projects capable of saving the world, Miro and his parents created the Mira’s Clubhouse. Through recorded videos and meetings, the group, which today has more than 30 people, gets in tune in search of the altruistic objective. The idea, explains Carla, is, through scientific dissemination, to improve the training of new generations.
When he doesn’t hunt for asteroids, Miro is immersed in school activities, interviews and recognitions — the last one, a tribute from the governor of São Paulo, João Doria, this Friday (18). “I feel very proud,” he reveals.
“I want to congratulate Miro and his parents. Science opens the mind. It is essential that children see it as something cool, which they would like to participate in. Any activity in the future will be linked to science and technology, and Miro will certainly , you will be a successful professional in all the careers you choose”, says Pontes.
When he grows up, Miro says he wants to be an aerospace engineer, a kung-fu master and a monster truck driver — those giant trucks with huge tires. Does it seem like a lot? Never doubt Miro.
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