International Asteroid Day 2020: Know Why The Day Is Celebrated And Which Rockstar Is A Founder

International Asteriod Day is celebrated every year on June 30 to raise awareness about the celestial bodies. Here is more about why it is celebrated.

Near-Earth asteroid, computer artwork/ Getty Images

New Delhi: Every year on June 30 the world celebrates a day of awareness and education about the space rubble that occasionally causes doomsday panic on earth-asteroids! These rocky minor planets or planetoids are remnants from the formation of our solar system and are mostly located between Mars and Jupiter within the main asteroid belt. The size range can vary from 530 km in diameter to 10 meters. The day was founded to raise awareness about these celestial bodies that have also been responsible for starting life on earth. Why is the day celebrated? On this day in 1908 a large explosion that happened near Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate (now Krasnoyarsk Krai), Russia. It had flattened trees within a 2000 km range and there were reports of deaths of three people. This incident was later known as Tunguska event. Researchers found that the explosion was caused by the breaking of a 100-meter-wide asteroid into the earth’s atmosphere. The Tunguska event was commemorated as Asteroid day. A Rockstar was one of the founders of Asteroid Day In 2014, a group that included astrophysicist and lead guitarist of the British rock band Queen, Brian May, commemorated June 30 as Asteroid Day, and in 2016 United Nations declared it officially. Together with the United Nations, space agencies, schools, and universities ‘Asteroid Day’ is organized by networks of supporters who host events worldwide on June 30^th. According to NASA, there are about 958,963 asteroids in our solar system. Asteroids range in size from Vesta—the largest at about 329 miles (530 kilometers) in diameter - to bodies that are less than 33 feet (10 meters) across. The total mass of all the asteroids combined is less than that of Earth's Moon. ALSO READ| Chinese App Ban: Homegrown App Developers Delighted, Say Time For 'Digital Aatma Nirbhar’ Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all the celebrations will be virtual, this year the focus will be on the discoveries done with regards to asteroids over the years, why there is a need for accelerated discoveries on asteroids, the arrival of samples from asteroid Ryugu and Bennu and many more. Space enthusiast can catch interesting events about asteroids on www.asteroidday.org