International Asteroid Day (30/06)

International Asteroid Day is proclaimed in UN General Assembly resolution № 71/90 of December 6, 2016, in the « goals of raising public awareness of the danger of colliding with asteroids».

It was decided to celebrate this space holiday annually at the international level on June 30 – on the anniversary of the «Tunguska phenomenon over Siberia». On this day in 1908, a large-scale asteroid disaster – occurred and the Tunguska meteorite collided with the Earth. An explosive wave, similar in power to a hydrogen bomb explosion, was recorded by scientists from different countries, on an area of 2000 square meters. kilometers, trees were knocked down, animals were killed, and people were injured. However, researchers, scientists and enthusiasts still have not reached a consensus on this event.

The initiative to establish a new date belongs to the Association of Space Explorers and is supported by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. And the main ideologists of – Day are rock musician, Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May and director Grig Richters. Their collaboration began in February 2014, when Brian May wrote the musical score for Richters' disaster film about a large asteroid falling on London. As a result, the idea of creating Asteroid Day was born.

Asteroid – is a celestial body of the Solar System, moving in orbit around the Sun and having no atmosphere. Asteroids are irregular in shape and are significantly smaller in size and mass than planets. The exact definition of the term «asteroid» has not yet been established; until 2006, asteroids were also called minor planets.

According to scientists, there may be from 1.1 to 1.9 million asteroids in the solar system – objects measuring more than 1 km. The largest cluster of – asteroids in the belt between Mars and Jupiter. The largest known – are Caecera, Vesta and Pallas, and Caecera has already received the status of a dwarf planet. According to the NASA Center, more than 16 thousand near-Earth objects (NEOs) have been discovered to date.

Although Earth is significantly larger than all known asteroids, these celestial bodies pose a serious potential threat to planet –, a collision with an asteroid larger than 3 km in size could destroy civilization, at most, and at least – could cause significant damage and destruction.

Many disaster films have been made about such possible situations. Therefore, astronomers closely monitor asteroids that are dangerous to the inhabitants of the planet. So Asteroid Day is designed to increase public awareness of the asteroid danger and the measures to maintain communication in a critical situation that must be taken at the global level in the event of a real threat of collision with objects approaching the Earth.

This international initiative is designed to coordinate humanity's efforts to develop early detection systems for celestial bodies threatening the Earth and to find ways to prevent asteroid collisions with the planet in the interests of universal security.

Based on recommendations for an international response to the threat of NEO impact made in 2013 by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, the International Asteroid Alert Network (ISNA) and the Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SPACM) were established in 2014. IUCN exchanges information with States to support them in the area of asteroid impact forecasting and mitigation. The CGPCM is a forum that brings together space agencies from different countries, which defines technologies for changing the trajectory of NEOs. The group also aims to reach consensus on the implementation of recommendations regarding the defense of the planet in the event of a threat of collision with near-Earth objects.

Every year, events within the framework of the Day are held in many countries. The Discovery Science channel, supporting the initiative to hold the holiday, launched a series of programs «Asteroid Day: countdown» and a number of other «space» programs. And in Russia, the main venue for Asteroid Day was the Moscow Planetarium, where, in addition to excursions, everyone is shown a collection of star stones, including the Seimchan meteorite weighing 1.5 tons; There are lectures by scientists on preventing asteroid danger, screenings of thematic films and a number of other events.



Infographics – poster «June 30 — International Asteroid Day»

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