International Asteroid Day 2021: Know About Asteroids And The Tunguska Event

 - Sakshi Post

The 113th anniversary of the greatest documented asteroid impact, which occurred near the Tunguska River in Russia's Siberia falls on International Asteroid Day this year.

This day is commemorated to motivate, engage, and educate people about both the benefits and the dangers of asteroids.

Every year on June 30th, the United Nations recognises International Asteroid Day as a campaign to promote awareness of asteroids, their possible threat to our planet, and the scientific mysteries that may be found by researching them. This day is marked to motivate, engage, and educate people on the benefits and dangers of asteroids.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared June 30 as World Asteroid Day in December 2016, to "observe each year at the international level the anniversary of the Tunguska impact over Siberia and to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard."

What are Asteroids?

Asteroids are "rocky remnants left over from the early formation of our Solar System about 4.6 billion years ago," according to NASA. There are presently 1,097,106 asteroids that have been discovered. Asteroids are distinct from meteors, which are tiny pieces of mass that penetrate the Earth's atmosphere as a streak of light.

What is the Tunguska Event?

According to NASA, "The only entry of a large meteoroid into Earth's atmosphere in modern history with firsthand accounts was the Tunguska event...This meteor struck a remote part of Siberia but didn't quite make it to the ground. Instead, it exploded in the air a few miles away. The force of the explosion was powerful enough to knock over trees in a region hundreds of miles wide... Locally, hundreds of reindeer were killed".

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