A Brazilian student won an award for discovering 25 asteroids in a NASA project

Brazilian medical student Verena Bacola, 22, received an award after participating in a project by the US space agency, NASA, and discovering 25 asteroids.

According to the student, one of them could hit the ground, but its size and possible date of collision are still being studied. It is called a weak asteroid because it is moving slowly and in its orbit.

In an interview with G1, Verena said she hasn’t yet had to analyze which of the 25 is the weakest, but that she will analyze them and will have an idea of ​​the scale, as it takes several observations in different parts of the Earth.

Verena is in her second year of medicine and said her story is similar to the movie Don’t Look Up. I used the same software to find asteroids, but unlike the movie, the case is being pursued by the authorities.

Discovery

While studying for her medical entrance exam at home in 2020, Verena needed a distraction activity and ended up enrolling in a NASA internship.

While analyzing the images taken from the telescope to find celestial bodies and objects in space, she learned to discover asteroids. After analyzing it, NASA confirmed that the student discovered 25 of them.

Verena received a trophy from NASA’s “Asteroid Hunt” program coordinator for her discovery in December 2021.

homage, allegiance, or respect

The student still doesn’t know when the bodies she discovered will be available, but she reports that one will be named in honor of her grandmother, Rochelle Bakula. Notarization can take up to 8 years, but one of them will have her name on it, as she is one of the most encouraged by her.