• Source:JND
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JE Lifestyle Desk: Every year on June 30, the special day of International Asteroid Day is observed to raise awareness about asteroids and the potential threats they can inflict during an impact. This day is intended to raise awareness about the risk of an asteroid collision. It is also the anniversary of the Siberian Tunguska catastrophe, the greatest asteroid impact in recorded history.

International Asteroid Day 2023: History

The history of International Asteroid Day dates back to 1908. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) passed the resolution 2016 and declared June 30 to be observed as ‘International Asteroid Day’ every year. This day marks the historic Tunguska event, a colossal asteroid explosion that decimated 2,150 square kilometres of Siberian forest in 1908. It is also known as World Asteroid Day.

International Asteroid Day 2023: Significance

This day serves as a reminder of the devastating impact asteroids can have on Earth and highlights the incident of the 1908 Tunguska event and the Chelyabinsk event of 2013. It is also an ideal day to think of measures to save the planet from the hazardous effects of asteroids.

International Asteroid Day 2023: Facts About Asteroids

  1. Asteroids come in a variety of shapes and sizes and teach us about the formation of the solar system. They are the rocky remnants of material leftover from the formation of the solar system and its planets approximately 4.6 billion years ago.
  2. Asteroids are also often referred to as minor planets and can range in size from the largest known example, Vesta, which has a diameter of around 326 miles, to bodies that are less than 33 feet across.
  3. The first asteroid was Ceres, discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801.
  4. Most asteroids are found orbiting in the Asteroid Belt, a series of rings located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
  5. An asteroid impact around 65 million years ago caused a chain reaction that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs and affected all life on Earth, according to scientists.
  6. Most asteroids are irregular in shape because they are too small to exert enough gravitational pull to become spherical in shape.
  7. Some asteroids are blown-out comets. When the ice is gone, all that remains is the rocky material.