@masterraalkivictorieux Master Ra’al Ki Victorieux
Asteroids Day on June 30 raises awareness about NEOs and their risks. Let’s unite for planetary defense! 🌌💫 #AsteroidsDay #PlanetaryDefense #SpaceAwareness #ScienceEducation
1. Why We Celebrate Asteroids Day: Raising Awareness
Asteroids Day, celebrated on June 30, serves as a global reminder of the need to raise awareness about asteroids and their potential impact on Earth. The significance of this day lies in educating the public, scientists, and policymakers about the risks posed by near-Earth objects (NEOs). By highlighting our understanding of these ancient celestial bodies, we promote discussions on planetary defense strategies. Celebrating Asteroids Day encourages collaboration among international space agencies, researchers, and the general public to ensure the safety of our planet from possible asteroid impacts.
2. The Foundation of Asteroids Day
Asteroids Day was founded in 2014 by a group including the renowned physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking, Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart, filmmaker Grigorij Richters, and Brian May (Queen guitarist and astrophysicist).
In February 2016, Romanian astronaut Dumitru Prunariu and the Association of Space Explorers submitted a proposal to the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the United Nations that was accepted by the subcommittee.
In 2016 the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space included the recommendation in its report. The report of the committee was presented for approval to the United Nations General Assembly’s 71st session, which it approved on December 6, 2016.
In its resolution, the United Nations declares “30 June International Asteroid Day to observe each year at the international level the anniversary of the Tunguska impact over Siberia, Russian Federation on 30 June 1908 and to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard.”
On Asteroid Day 2017, minor planet 248750 (discoverer M. Dawson) was officially named Asteroid Day by the International Astronomical Union.
The day was established in memory of the Tunguska event, which occurred on June 30, 1908, when a large explosion caused by a meteoroid devastated a remote area of Siberia. The explosion damaged around 830 miles of forest in Siberia, Russia. This event underscored the potential threats posed by asteroids and instigated a concerted effort to raise awareness and improve detection capabilities, leading to the establishment of Asteroids Day.
On 2013 there was also another meteoroid explosion at Chelybinsk. It was a superbolide that entered Earth’s atmosphere over the southern Ural region in Russia on 15 February 2013 at about 09:20 YEKT (03:20 UTC). It was caused by an approximately 18-metre-diameter (60 ft), 9,100-tonne (10,000-short-ton) near-Earth asteroid that entered the atmosphere at a shallow 18‐degree angle with a speed relative to Earth of 19 kilometres per second (69,000 km/h; 43,000 mph). The light from the meteor was briefly brighter than the Sun, visible as far as 100 km (60 mi) away. It was observed in a wide area of the region and in neighbouring republics. Some eyewitnesses also reported feeling intense heat from the fireball.
The object exploded in a meteor air burst over Chelyabinsk Oblast, at a height of about 30 km (18 mi; 97,000 ft). The explosion generated a bright flash, producing a hot cloud of dust and gas that penetrated to 26 km (86,000 ft), and many surviving small fragmentary meteorites. Most of the object’s energy was absorbed by the atmosphere, creating a large shock wave. The asteroid had a total kinetic energy before atmospheric impact equivalent to the blast yield of 400–500 kilotonnes of TNT (1.7–2.1 petajoules), estimated from infrasound and seismic measurements. This was approximately 30 times as much energy as that released by the atomic bomb detonated at Hiroshima.
The object approached Earth undetected before its atmospheric entry, in part because its radiant (source direction) was close to the Sun. 1,491 people were injured seriously enough to seek medical treatment. All of the injuries were due to indirect effects rather than the meteor itself, mainly from broken glass from windows that were blown in when the shock wave arrived, minutes after the superbolide’s flash. Around 7,200 buildings in six cities across the region were damaged by the explosion’s shock wave, and authorities scrambled to help repair the structures in sub-freezing temperatures. No deaths were reported. It is the largest known natural object to have entered Earth’s atmosphere since the 1908 Tunguska event.
3. Asteroid Day Declaration
In 2014, the Asteroid Day working group created a declaration known as the “100X Declaration,” which calls on all scientists and technologists who support the idea of saving Earth from asteroids. The 100X Declaration was signed by over 22,000 citizens, including non-specialists.
Although over one million asteroids have the potential to impact Earth, only about one percent have been discovered. The 100X Declaration calls for increasing the asteroid discovery rate to 100,000 (or 100x) per year for the next 10 years. This is expected to spur efforts to address potential impacts.
The three main objectives are:
- Employ available technology to detect and track near-Earth asteroids that threaten human populations through governments and private and philanthropic organizations.
- A rapid one-hundredfold acceleration in the discovery and tracking of near-Earth asteroids to 100,000 per year over the next ten years.
- Global adoption of Asteroid Day, raising awareness of the danger of asteroids and our efforts to prevent impacts, on June 30, with recognition by the United Nations. This action goal has been achieved.
4. Asteroid Day 2015–2019
According to information from asteroiday.org, in the first five years since the day was announced, more than 2,000 events were held in 78 countries. 41 astronauts and cosmonauts participated in activities during the day. The overall goal was to raise awareness of the threat posed by asteroid impacts. Institutions such as the Institut de Ciències de l’Espai, the Natural History Museum of Vienna, the American Museum of Natural History, the California Academy of Sciences, the London Science Museum, the SETI Institute, the European Space Agency, the UK Space Agency, among others participated in educational activities.
5. The Most Famous Asteroids and Apollo 10
Among the most famous asteroids are Ceres, Vesta, and Eros. Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, is classified as a dwarf planet. Vesta is another significant body with a rich geological history, and Eros is well-known for being the first asteroid to be orbited by a spacecraft.
Apollo 10, launched in May 1969, was crucial not just for lunar exploration but also in understanding the environment of space, including the presence of asteroids. Although not an asteroid mission, Apollo 10 emphasized the importance of preparing for future missions that might encounter asteroids.
4. Space Garbage and How to Handle It
Space debris, often referred to as space junk, poses a significant threat to operational satellites and future space missions. It includes defunct satellites, spent rocket stages, and fragments from past collisions. To handle this issue, various strategies have been proposed, including:
- Tracking and Monitoring: Space agencies actively track debris to predict potential collisions and devise avoidance maneuvers.
- Debris Removal Technologies: Concepts for actively removing space debris are being developed, including nets, harpoons, and laser systems aimed at deorbiting unnecessary materials.
5. Art and Asteroids
There are several films that depict the end of the world caused by a meteorite or asteroid. Some of the most well-known are “Armageddon” (1998), “Deep Impact” (1998), “Greenland: The Day the World Ends” (2020), “Don’t Look Up” (2021), and “Melancholia” (2011). There are also films like “12 Hours to the End of the World” (2022) and “The Day the World Ends” (2020) that explore this theme.
Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood s a 2022 American animated coming of age comedy-drama film set during the events preceding the Apollo 11 Moon landing, loosely based on the childhood of writer, director, and producer Richard Linklater. It presents a fictional tale of a fourth-grader who becomes the first person to land on the Moon and stars Glen Powell, Jack Black, Zachary Levi and Josh Wiggins.
6. Other Important Related Subjects
Several other subjects are critical in the context of asteroids:
- Planetary Defense: The science and strategies involved in securing Earth against potential asteroid threats.
- Mining Asteroids: The potential for harvesting resources from asteroids, which could provide valuable materials for future space exploration and even Earth’s economy.
- The Role of Space Agencies: NASA, ESA, and other space agencies play an essential role in advancing our understanding of asteroids through missions like NEOWISE and the upcoming DART project, aimed at testing planetary defense techniques.
In summary, Asteroids Day serves as a crucial platform to engage and educate the public on asteroids’ significance, potential threats, and the innovative measures being developed to protect our planet.
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