She wants to name them after Brazilian scientists and her family
In the coastal rhythms of Brazilian daily life, an eight-year-old named Nicole Oliveira has turned a childhood longing for the stars into something the scientific community must now take seriously — eighteen preliminary asteroid detections that could rewrite the record books and remind the world that wonder, when nurtured, has no minimum age. Her journey, traced back to a two-year-old reaching toward the night sky, speaks to the oldest human impulse: to name what lies beyond us, and in doing so, to belong to something larger than ourselves.
- An eight-year-old Brazilian girl has submitted eighteen preliminary asteroid detections that could shatter the existing record for youngest discoverer by a full decade.
- The certification process is slow and unforgiving — years may pass before any of Nicolinha's findings are confirmed, leaving her achievement suspended in scientific limbo.
- The Asteroid Hunters program, bridging citizen curiosity and institutional astronomy across dozens of countries, has already converted 85 of its crowdsourced detections into confirmed asteroids.
- Nicolinha is not waiting — from her star-poster-covered bedroom she runs a YouTube channel interviewing professional astronomers, already building the career she intends to have.
- If confirmed, she plans to name her asteroids after Brazilian scientists and family members, staking a personal and national claim on the cosmos.
Nicole Oliveira is eight years old and lives in Brazil. She has identified eighteen preliminary asteroid detections through the Asteroid Hunters project — and if even one is certified, she will become the youngest person in history to discover an asteroid, breaking a record set in 1999 by Luigi Sannino, who was eighteen at the time.
Her mother, Zilma Janaca, remembers the signs arriving early. At two, Nicolinha stretched her arms toward the sky asking for a star. At four, she requested a telescope for her birthday — a word her mother had to look up before she could fulfill the wish. The telescope came. The obsession deepened.
The Asteroid Hunters project, run jointly by the International Astronomical Search Collaboration and Brazil's ministry of science, has drawn hundreds of citizen scientists from India, Iraq, Spain, Nigeria, and beyond. Together they have logged 185 preliminary detections, with 85 confirmed as real asteroids. In the most recent campaign alone, Nicolinha submitted seven of those detections herself.
Her bedroom tells the whole story: a computer loaded with space imagery, Star Wars figurines, cosmos posters, and astronaut decorations. From that same desk, she hosts a YouTube channel where she has interviewed prominent astronomers and an aspiring Brazilian female astronaut.
Should her discoveries be confirmed, she already knows what she'll do — name them after Brazilian scientists and her own family. But naming is only the beginning. She wants to build rockets. She wants to stand at Kennedy Space Center and see the machines that carry people into space. At eight years old, she is already asking what comes next.
Nicole Oliveira is eight years old and lives in Brazil. She has already identified eighteen preliminary asteroid detections—observations that, if certified by astronomers, would make her the youngest person on record to discover an asteroid.
The current record belongs to Luigi Sannino, who discovered an asteroid now catalogued as 12575 Palmaria when he was eighteen years old, back in 1999. If even one of Nicolinha's detections holds up under scrutiny, she will shatter that benchmark by a decade. The certification process can take years, so the waiting has only just begun.
Her mother, Zilma Janaca, traces the obsession back to the beginning. When Nicolinha was two, she would reach her small arms toward the sky and ask her mother to give her a star. The family understood this was something deeper than childhood whimsy when, at four years old, the girl asked for a telescope as a birthday gift—a request that left her mother, who barely knew what a telescope was, scrambling to understand what her daughter actually wanted. The telescope arrived. Nicolinha has not looked back.
She participates in the Asteroid Hunters, a collaborative project run by the International Astronomical Search Collaboration and Brazil's ministry of science. The initiative exists to pull ordinary people into the work of astronomy, and it has succeeded beyond modest expectations. Hundreds of citizen scientists from across the globe—from India and Iraq to Spain and Nigeria—have contributed at least 185 preliminary detections through the program, with eighty-five of those objects confirmed as actual asteroids. In the most recent campaign, Nicolinha alone submitted seven preliminary detections.
Walk into her bedroom and you understand immediately how completely she has committed to this world. A computer sits ready for her to scroll through space imagery, hunting for the telltale signatures of undiscovered objects. Star Wars figurines line the shelves. Posters of the cosmos cover the walls. Astronaut-themed decorations fill the remaining space. From that same computer, she runs a YouTube channel where she has interviewed some of the biggest names in astronomy and space exploration—including Brazilian astronomer Duília de Mello and Andressa Costa Ojeda, an aspiring female astronaut from Brazil.
If her asteroid detections are confirmed, Nicolinha has already decided what she will do: she wants to name them after famous Brazilian scientists and members of her family. But her ambitions extend far beyond naming rights. She wants to build rockets. She dreams of visiting the Kennedy Space Center at NASA in Florida to see the machines that launch people into space. At eight years old, she is already thinking about what comes next.
Notable Quotes
When she was two, she would raise her arms to the sky and ask me, 'Mom, give me a star'— Zilma Janaca, Nicolinha's mother
I want to build rockets. I would love to go to the Kennedy Space Center at NASA in Florida to see their rockets— Nicole Oliveira
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What made you start looking for asteroids in the first place?
I didn't start by looking for asteroids. I just loved space. I loved asking my mom for stars when I was little. Then I got a telescope, and I wanted to see what was really out there. The Asteroid Hunters project showed me I could actually help find things nobody had found before.
Eighteen preliminary detections is remarkable. Do you understand what it would mean to break the world record?
I know it would be the first time someone my age did it. But honestly, I'm more excited about the work itself—about looking at the images and finding something new. The record is nice, but it's not why I do it.
Your mother said you asked for a star when you were two. Do you remember that?
Not really. But I believe her. I think I've always known I wanted to understand space, not just look at it.
What happens if one of your detections gets certified?
Then I get to name it. I want to name them after Brazilian scientists and my family. That way, they're part of space forever.
What's next for you after asteroids?
I want to build rockets. I want to go to Kennedy Space Center and see how they do it. There's so much more to explore.