World Asteroid Day 2019: History, Interesting Facts and Significance of the Global Event Celebrated on June 30
Asteroid Day is marked to raise public awareness about the hazardous impacts of asteroids and inform people about the crisis communication action to be taken in case of such a circumstance.
International Asteroid Day is an annual event observed on the anniversary of the Siberian Tunguska event that was held on June 30, 1908. Asteroid Day is marked to raise public awareness about the hazardous impacts of asteroids and inform people about the crisis communication action to be taken in case of such a circumstance. Near-Earth objects (NEOs) consists of asteroids or comets that can cause catastrophic threats to our planets, as they pass close to the Earth's orbit. Asteroid Day was co-founded by filmmaker Grigorij Richters along with astronauts, scientists, artists and technologists. Asteroid Day was officially launched on December 3, 2014. NASA to Crash Spacecraft into Asteroid in 2022.
According to NASA's Center for NEO Studies, over 16,000 near-Earth asteroids have been discovered. The Earth's largest asteroid impact which has been recorded until now, occurred on June 30, 1908, near river Tunguska in Siberia, Russia. It is hence remembered as the Tunguska event. The United Nations gave the call to declare the day as International Asteroid Day in December 2016 as the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/71/90, in order to "observe each year at the international level the anniversary of the Tunguska impact over Siberia, Russian Federation, on 30 June 1908, and to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard". NASA Has Discovered a Rare Double Asteroid 2017 YE5 Revolving Around Each Other.
The resolution was adopted, based on a proposal by the Association of Space Explorers, which was endorsed by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). The second largest asteroid impact was felt on February 15, 2013, when a fireball or a superbolide travelling at a high velocity entered the atmosphere and disintegrated in the skies over Chelyabinsk. This later came to be recognised as the second most energetic impact event since the Tunguska blast.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 30, 2019 02:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).