Nicole Oliviera from Brazil has recently become the youngest astronomer in history. Participating in the ‘Asteroid Hunt’ citizen science programme conducted by the International Astronomical Search Collaboration, the little girl discovered seven asteroids for NASA.
As per the reports, Oliviera has been rewarded with a certificate for helping discover asteroids for NASA. In fact, Oliviera is the youngest astronomer currently and has also given astronomy-related lectures in schools and events. Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation even invited Oliviera to present a study during their International Seminar on Astronomy and Aeronautics. And that’s not it.
Nicole Oliviera also has a YouTube channel where she discusses astronomy and offers awareness on space and other universe-related things. She also invites researchers and professors in this field to share their knowledge.
In other related news, it was lately reported that a giant asteroid named “2008 Go20” passed by Earth on July 24 at a velocity of 18,000 miles per hour. This massive asteroid is estimated to be thrice the size of the Taj Mahal! However, this asteroid was non-hazardous and didn’t have any impact on Earth.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) classified the flying object as an asteroid of the Apollo class. The asteroid “2008 Go20” was estimated to be 0.04 au (astronomical unit) away from Earth and couldn’t have come any close to our planet than 2,605,509 miles.