World Asteroid Day 2021

Learn about the impact of Tunguska increasing the threat level from space.

Thursday, 1st July 2021

Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) that fly at extremely fast speeds and traverse the Earth or occasionally hit the upper atmosphere have always been the curiosity of scientists and non-scientists.

Although these objects are sources of information and may have mineral potential, their potentially dangerous effects sometimes outweigh their benefits. In order to raise awareness of the threat posed by these celestial bodies, International Asteroid Day is celebrated every June 30th.

The purpose of  observation is to “raise awareness of the danger of asteroid impact and inform the public about the crisis communication actions that the world will take when a credible threat from near-Earth objects occurs.”

WHAT IS AN ASTEROID?

Asteroids are rock fragments left by asteroids The solar system formed about 4.6 billion years ago. According to NASA's Joint Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which tracks the movement of asteroids, an asteroid is classified as a near-Earth object when the distance from our planet is less than 1.3 times the distance between them. The earth and the sun (the distance between the earth and the sun is approximately 93 million miles).

The orbits of asteroids are sometimes affected by the planet's gravity, causing their trajectories to change. Scientists believe that asteroids or debris from previous collisions have hit the earth in the past and played an important role in the evolution of our planet.

Also Read: Stephen Hawking's theory about black holes confirmed by Gravitational waves.

WHAT IS TUNGUSKA IMPACT THAT LED TO WORLD ASTEROID DAY?

World Asteroid Day was recognized by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2016 as "the anniversary of Tunguska’s impact on Siberia on June 30, 1908" every year.

The Tunguska asteroid event is the largest asteroid impact event on the Earth ever recorded. The asteroid hit the Podcarmenaya Tunguska River, releasing enough energy to flatten nearly 80 million trees in an area of ??2,150 square kilometers. Although the coup took place in 1908, the expedition that first learned about the event did not begin until 1927, 19 years later. Although no impact crater was found, scientists believe the asteroid was nearly 25 stories high and exploded before hitting the surface.

A similar event occurred in February 2013, when a huge fireball entered the atmosphere at a speed of 18.6 kilometers per second and disintegrated over Chelyabinsk, Russia. The asteroid has an estimated diameter of 18 meters and a mass of 11,000 tons. This event released energy equivalent to 440 kilotons of TNT.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) has recognized that near-Earth object impact hazards are a global problem that requires an international response.

The News Talkie Bureau

Source:

India Today