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World Asteroid Day 2022 date is June 30. An asteroid can be considered as a minor planet of the inner Solar System. These asteroids will be orbiting the Sun that did not resolve into a disc in a telescope. Also, not observed to have properties of an active comet such as a tail. The term asteroid indicates the minor planets of the inner Solar System, also those co-orbitals with Jupiter. Larger asteroids are namely termed planetoids.
What is World Asteroid Day?
International Asteroid Day is on June 30 and is celebrated globally to raise awareness and communicate the importance and relevance of asteroids education to prevent Earth from a future catastrophic situation. The new generation is motivating and urged to come forward to the field of astronomy and in-depth research of Asteroids in particular
World Asteroid Day 2022 Theme
Asteroid day considers the theme of “Awareness and Education about Asteroids for the populace to stay calm and alert.” During Asteroid Day, the research community and astronomy department along with the student community raises awareness and education regarding the Asteroid. They also use this day to build awareness about the past hazards and destruction of history. This recalling to the past stands as a strong source of awareness for the future
In turn, more new inventions and asteroid related research are highlighted this day. Many certifications and rewards will be included for the relevant personalities on this day. The proper elaboration of the field and observation is highlighted here.
Explore History about Asteroid Day
International Asteroid Day is considered based on the anniversary of the Siberian Tunguska event that took place on June 30, 1908. It can be said as the most dangerous and harmful asteroid related event in history. Thus, the United Nations declared June 30 t be observed as International Asteroid Day.
Tunguska Impact
An immense eruption happened in the environment above the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Siberia, Russia on June 30, 1908. The calculated power of the explosion is similar to the explosive force of 15 megatons of TNT which is a thousand times more robust than the atomic bomb that descended on Hiroshima.
Around 2,000 kilometers, forest plots were damaged which grounded about 80 million trees. It is thought that the cause of the explosion was incoming asteroids. Hence, the Tunguska event is regarded as the biggest asteroid collision on the Earth in recorded history.
Interesting Facts on Asteroids
- At most short one asteroid has rings
- There are currently over 600,000 known asteroids in our solar system.
- Apart from their small size, water may move on asteroid coverings
- An asteroid could have exterminated the dinosaurs
- Asteroids are too little to sustain life
- Most maximum asteroids are in a “belt”.
- Asteroids are tiny, solid things that orbit the Sun.
- The initial asteroid was Ceres, found by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801.
- Most asteroids are found orbiting in the Asteroid Belt
- Astronomer William Herschel first issued the word asteroid, which means star-like in 1802.
- Ceres is also the biggest known asteroid at 933 kilometres a
- The smallest known asteroid, 1991 BA, is only 6 meters
- Apollo objects are asteroids whose path intersects the orbit of Earth.
- Most asteroids are different in shape because they are too small to use enough gravitational pull to become round in shape.
- Some asteroids are flung out comets.
- Asteroids are made of variant materials
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Asteroid Day Declaration
The work group of Asteroid Day produced a declaration called 100X Declaration, which reviews all scientists and technologists who are promoting the idea of protecting the earth from asteroids. Today, the 100X Declaration has been acknowledged by more than 22,000 individual residents.
The declaration is ways for the citizens to commit to the knowledge of the Earth’s vulnerability and the awareness that Asteroids hit Earth all the time. Asteroid Day is a medium to earn public assistance to improve our knowledge of asteroids and it might strike and how we can guard ourselves.
Goals of the Declaration
- Apply convenient technology to discover and track Near-Earth Asteroids that endanger human communities using the help and aid of governments and private and philanthropic organisations.
- Motivating to Communicate the acceleration and intensity of the asteroids and observing the approach rate and density.
- Global adoption of Asteroid Day, raising awareness of the asteroid hazard and our efforts to counter it.
International Asteroid Day Timeline
- March 22, 1989- 4581 Asclepius Passes by the asteroid Asclepius passes by Earth at a distance of almost 500,000 miles.
- March 31, 1989 Scientists Discover the Asteroid – American astronomers Henry Holt and Norman Thomas discover that Asclepius had passed by the Earth.
- 2014 – 51 Degrees North the science-fiction movie broadly cantering on near-Earth objects is released.
- 2015- First Observance- International Asteroid Day is celebrated for the first time.
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World Asteroid Day: Possible Activities
Think of Organizing an Event
You can organize an event to promote awareness and educate others about the asteroids and their current status in the field of research. Many of us are unaware of this day and it fades away without any reference. Thus, it is relevant to promote some activities and organise some events related to them.
Make use of social media to spread awareness
You can always include social media in your activities. Use social media and #tags to promote the idea. Make sure you pass the information regarding the day with your friends and families. Spread awareness!
Educate others about the importance of the day
Don’t wait for others for the innovative method. Be in the forefront to educate others regarding the day. Make sure you have authentic data and information regarding this. If you are a passionate learner in the field of astronomy and asteroids, collect more information and teach yourself first. They promote the ideas and teach others as well as the new generation.
Ask a prominent person in the field to Talk
You can bring forward a prominent personality from this field to talk regarding the topic and conduct a seminar. This is will gain massive attention with proper promotion.
Take an interview
You can unable to get a speaker for your event, you can go on with the idea of taking an interview with a person related to this field. If physical barriers hit you, you can conduct an online interview session on Instagram or similar platforms.
Conduct a webinar
Conduct a webinar on the field and ask someone relevant and educated in this sector to speak up with this.
Make posters and articles
You can also engage in creative activities. Make a poster or an article consisting of the important points about the asteroid day.
Write a blog
Think of writing a creative blog or an education blog. You can include the history, facts and other research findings regarding the Asteroids in your blog.
Introduce history
If you are a person who loves to learn history, dig the history of asteroids and learn more about it. Then share this historical fact with the world. Make sure you use authentic learning projects
Encourage space research
Encourage the young generation to come forward in space research and
Educate with movies, books, quotes and poems
There are many movies, books, quotes and poems that promote the ideas and explains the concepts of asteroids and astronomy. You can suggest some of the interesting movies and books to your followers and friends. Some of the suggestions are given here.
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Asteroid Movies
- Meteor (1979)
- Without Warning (1994)
- Post Impact (2004)
- Christmas Icetastrophe (2014)
- Ice Age: Collision Course (2016)
- Night of the Comet (1984)
- Seeking A Friend for the End of the World” (2012)
- Deep Impact (1998)
- Armageddon (1998)
- The Good Dinosaur (2015)
- The Green Slime (1968)
- Moon Zero Two (1969)
- The Day the Sky Exploded (1958)
Books and Asteroids
Books | Authors |
(Off on a Comet, 1877) | Jules Verne |
The Kraken Wakes | John Wyndham |
The Last Policeman (The Last Policeman, #1) | Ben H. Winters |
Aftershock (Sedulity Saga #2) | David P. Forsyth |
The Boy In The Earth | Fuminori Nakamura |
The Chase of the Golden Meteor (1908) | Jules and Michel Verne |
2312 | Kim Stanley Robinson |
The Sparrow | Mary Doria Russell |
Eon | Greg Bear |
Titan | Stephen Baxter |
World Asteroid Day Quotes
- “It’s control-alt-delete for civilization” – Bill Nye
- Noise proves nothing.”– Mark Twain
- “We should really care about asteroids because there are too many out there!” – Pedro Duque
- Sooner or later the space program will need to save us by detecting and deflecting an incoming asteroid. – Nathan Myhrvold
- “We really need an universally accepted and coordinated strategy for the development of asteroid litigation technology and very importantly the implementation of plans for an emergency deflection scenario.” – Alan Harris
- “Breaking the asteroid’s velocity changes the time when the asteroid passes Earth’s orbit. After all, just because it crosses Earth’s path doesn’t mean there is certainly going to be a disaster. It has to cross Earth’s path when the Earth is right there.” – Carrie Nugent
- “An asteroid can literally destroy 80 or 90 percent of the species that are alive on Earth. These are big issues. I mean, this is called extinction.” – Rusty Schweickart
- We have the capability – physically, technically – to protect the Earth from asteroid impacts. We are immediately able to very slightly and subtly reshape the solar system in order to enhance human survival.” – Rusty Schweickart
- “An asteroid collision is a preventable natural disaster. It’s in part preventable because we have the technology, and it’s in part preventable because it’s anticipated.” – Carrie Nugent
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International Asteroid Day Dates
Year | Date | Day |
2021 | June 30 | Wednesday |
2022 | June 30 | Thursday |
2023 | June 30 | Friday |
2024 | June 30 | Sunday |
2025 | June 30 | Monday |
Types of Asteroids
- C-type asteroids
- S-type asteroids
- M-type asteroids
Main Asteroid Belt
The belt is supposed to hold within 1.1 and 1.9 million asteroids greater than 1 kilometre (0.6 miles) in diameter, and millions of shorter ones.
Trojans
These asteroids partake in an orbit with a larger planet but do not conflict with it because they congregate around two special places in the orbit. The Jupiter trojans form the most important group of trojan asteroids. It is believed that they are as diverse as the asteroids in the asteroid belt. There are Mars and Neptune trojans. NASA announced the discovery of an Earth trojan in 2011.
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Near-Earth Asteroids
These objects possess orbits that cross close to that of Earth. Asteroids that cross Earth’s orbital pathway are known as Earth-crossers.
Discovery Timeline
- 10 by 1849
-
- 1 Ceres, 1801
- 2 Pallas – 1802
- 3 Juno – 1804
- 4 Vesta – 1807
- 5 Astraea – 1845
- in 1846, planet Neptune was discovered
- 6 Hebe – July 1847
- 7 Iris – August 1847
- 8 Flora – October 1847
- 9 Metis – 25 April 1848
- 10 Hygiea – 12 April 1849 tenth asteroid discovered
- 100 asteroids by 1868
- 1,000 by 1921
- 10,000 by 1989
- 100,000 by 2005
- 1,000,000 by 2020
Attributes of largest asteroids |
||||||||||
Name | Orbital
radius (AU) |
Orbital
period (years) |
Inclination
to ecliptic |
Orbital
eccentricity |
Diameter
(km) |
Diameter
(% of Moon) |
Mass
(×1018 kg) |
Mass
(% of Ceres) |
Density
(g/cm3) |
Rotation
period (hr) |
Ceres | 2.77 | 4.60 | 10.6° | 0.079 | 964×964×892
(mean 939.4) |
27% | 938 | 100% | 2.16±0.01 | 9.07 |
Vesta | 2.36 | 3.63 | 7.1° | 0.089 | 573×557×446
(mean 525.4) |
15% | 259 | 28% | 3.46 ± 0.04 | 5.34 |
Pallas | 2.77 | 4.62 | 34.8° | 0.231 | 550×516×476
(mean 512±6) |
15% | 201±13 | 21% | 2.57±0.19 | 7.81 |
Hygiea | 3.14 | 5.56 | 3.8° | 0.117 | 450×430×424
(mean 434±14) |
12% | 83±8 | 9% | 1.94±0.19 | 13.8 |
Latest Update On Asteroids
As per recent studies and researches, a huge asteroid is expected by the Earth, which is on record as 4.5 million miles. This record is as per NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The asteroid named 2021 KT1 is about 600 feet.
World Asteroids Day: Quiz
1) Who had coined the term asteroid?
Answer: William Herschel
2) When the first asteroid named Ceres was discovered?
Answer: 1 January 1801
3)Who discovered the first asteroid, 1 Ceres?
Answer: Giuseppe Piazzi
4) Name an asteroid that is located at the Lagrangian points, L4 and L5, and lies in the same orbit as Jupiter?
Answer: Trojan
5) Name the group of asteroids that cross Earth’s orbit and also may come close to Earth or even collide with the planet?
Answer: Apollo
6) Name an asteroid that has a dog-bone shape?
Answer: 216 Kleopatra
7) Which law suggested that there should be a planet between Mars and Jupiter?
Answer: Bode’s Law
8) What was the name of the second asteroid discovered?
Answer: Pallas
9) What asteroid did the NEAR Shoemaker mission land on in 2001?
Answer: 433 Eros
10) Which asteroid was discovered to have its own satellite?
Answer: 243 Ida
Let’s Wrap Up!
This article provided a glimpse of Asteroids and the relevance of the Asteroid Day celebration. As we are all living on this Earth and part of Space, it is a chief responsibility to be aware of the Asteroids. But this isn’t all. Know more General Knowledge and Current Awareness topic in Entri App in detail.