NKRIKU.COM – Two computer screens lit up in a room filled with space posters, side by side with astronaut dolls and colorful stationery typical of cheerful children’s rooms.
In front of the screen, a petite girl looks diligently looking for an asteroid that she will submit to NASA to be certified as a find.
She is Nicole Oliveira, an 8 year old girl from Brazil who is dubbed the world’s youngest astronomer who is ‘working’ in her ‘office’.
Through the NASA-supported Asteroid Hunters program, he discovered 18 asteroids and attended international seminars, where he met leading space and science figures.
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“He’s really observant. He immediately saw points in the image that looked like asteroids and often told friends when they didn’t find them,” said Heliomarzio Rodrigues Moreira, Oliveira’s astronomy teacher.
Nicole Oliveira, astronomer termuda di dunia. (Jarbas Oliveira/AFP)
“The most important thing is that he shares his knowledge with other children. He contributed to the spread of knowledge,” added Rodrigues Moreira.
If Oliveira’s findings are certified, he will become the youngest person in the world to officially discover an asteroid, breaking the record of 18-year-old Italian Luigi Sannino.
Then who is Nicole Oliveira and how does her family support this girl’s expensive ideals?
According to France24 Monday (3/1/2022), the Oliveira family moved to Fortaleza from their hometown of Maceio, about 1,000 kilometers away, earlier this year.
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They were willing to move after the boy who was familiarly called Nicolinha received a scholarship at a prestigious school in the city. His father, a computer scientist, was allowed to keep his job and work remotely.
“When she was two years old, she would raise her hand to the sky and ask me, ‘Mom, give me a star,’ said her mother, Zilma Janaca, 43.
“We understood that this passion for astronomy was serious when he asked for a telescope as a fourth birthday present. I didn’t even really know what a telescope was,” Janaca added.
Nicole Oliveira, astronomer termuda di dunia. (Jarbas Oliveira/AFP)
Nicolinha was so desperate to get a telescope that she told her parents she would trade it for all her future birthday parties.
However, such gifts were too expensive for their family and the girl managed to get them when she was 7 years old with all her friends raising money to buy them, her mother said.
While continuing her studies, Nicolinha enrolled in an astronomy course for students who were older than her.
“I want to build a rocket. I want to go to the Kennedy Space Center at NASA in Florida to see their rockets,” he said. “I also want all children in Brazil to have access to science,” he said.
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