Of all the wonders the universe offers, asteroids can be considered a part of it. Asteroids are not information like planets or comets but are practical objects that are either metallic or frozen ones or even chunks of rock that bound the sun. The lack of an atmosphere and the variety of their shapes and sizes is also vast – these are the features of these exciting objects. These objects range from a small rubble pile to a big celestial body that is nearly as large as a dwarf planet and can be as large as 1000 kilometers in diameter. Although they are typically small in size when they do make it into Earth’s atmosphere, asteroids can be dangerous, and hence, it is vital to have knowledge of the impacts of asteroids. For this purpose, people are informed about these dangers through World Asteroid Day, which is celebrated every year.
World Asteroid Day is observed on June 30 every year, i.e., today. This date was selected with a view to the Tunguska meteorite event in 1908 in Siberia, currently Krasnoyarsk Territory. The Tunguska Event is also noteworthy for not having left the impact crater on the Earth’s surface; the asteroid apparently burned up in the atmosphere, causing a gigantic explosion. This was witnessed by people and is today documented as one of the largest-ever asteroid impacts.
The history of World Asteroid Day is associated with a number of well-known personalities, leading figures among which can be listed the physicist Stephen Hawking, the astronaut Rusty Schweickart, the filmmaker Grig Richters, and the astrophysicist and the guitarist of the Queen band Brian May. It was initiated in 2014 and was recognized more in 2016 when the United Nations endorsed it as an annual event.
World Asteroid Day is an informal day whose main goal is to increase people’s awareness about possible asteroid impacts and the overall asteroid phenomenon. Studying the day allows us to get to know more about asteroids, their properties, and the possible dangers that they can cause.
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