The International Asteroid Day 2020 is celebrated worldwide on June 30, 2020, to spread more awareness about the impacts and hazards linked to asteroid attacks on our planet. This day is promoted by NASA in order to remind people about the impending doom of our planet. Today the public and government feel encouraged and help support the resources necessary to find and deflect Asteroids.
The Day was co-founded in 2014 by well-known musician Dr. Brian May of QUEEN, Apollo 9 Astronaut Rusty Schweickart, Filmmaker Grig Richters, and B612 President Danica Remy. In December 2016, the UN declared the Asteroid Day as an international day of education and awareness initiated in part, following the 15 February 2013 meteor impact in Chelyabinsk, Russia. June 30 was declared as the International Asteroid Day by a UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/71/90 proposed by the Association of Space Explorers and endorsed by Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).
When an asteroid or comet comes close to Earth we call it a near-Earth object. But how close is close? How do we keep track of them? What can we do to mitigate our risk?
☄️ Here’s what you need to know about near-Earth objects this #AsteroidDay: pic.twitter.com/mCjW3FSoz5
— NASA (@NASA) June 30, 2020
International Asteroid Day 2020: Remembering Tunguska
The day marks the anniversary of the 1908 Tunguska impact when the largest-ever explosion occurred on June 30 over the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Siberia, Russia. As per NASA estimates, the 220-million-pound asteroid entered the atmosphere of the Earth at a speed of about 33,500 miles per hour, heated the air surrounding it to 44,500 degrees Fahrenheit and at 28,000 feet height annihilated from the heat and pressure to produce a fireball and energy equal to about 185 Hiroshima bombs.
100x signatory and pioneering rock musician, @itspetergabriel, continues his support of Asteroid Day and its mission to take the study of these space rocks seriously. Watch Asteroid Day LIVE today! Visit https://t.co/EeW1jUdbNs. pic.twitter.com/UpB7nRXJYu
— Asteroid Day ☄ (@AsteroidDay) June 30, 2020
The blast destroyed 80 million trees over a forest area of 2,150 square km but no crater can be found on the site because of its disintegration before the strike. Different talks and panel discussions are held among eminent experts in the particular field as a part of International Asteroid Day. This year, all events and discussions will be held online due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
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Suryapratim Ray is an engineer, author, robotics hobbyist, and an active Quoran. Being a technical blogger, he covers the good, bad, and ugly of science on a regular basis at Sciencenews18. In addition to his passion for writing, he’s equally keen on learning classical music.