World Asteroid Day 2022: Why is asteroid day celebrated?

Asteroid 2022: World Asteroid Day is celebrated annually on June 30 to raise awareness about the risks of an asteroid impact. Asteroids are the celestial rocks that are smaller than a planet, however, revolve around the sun like them. World Asteroid Day 2022 sheds light on the fact that while most of the asteroids don’t pose threat to our planet and the life thriving on it, some are not that innocuous and can cause a catastrophe if they collide with the Earth. World Asteroid Day 2022 also aims to make the public aware of the asteroid impact hazards and the crisis communication actions that can be executed at the global level in case there is a credible near-Earth object threat.

On World Asteroid Day 2022, know more about asteroids, and asteroid day is celebrated.

We Earthlings are making progress toward defending our planet from impacts. That's reason enough for tomorrow's @AsteroidDay celebration!

Co-founder @MVdar and Detlef Koschny, acting head of @ESA's Planetary Defence Office, join us this week on @PlanRad: https://t.co/QNbb3zMX8J pic.twitter.com/KaiMuOJUHC

— Planetary Society (@exploreplanets) June 29, 2022

World Asteroid Day 2022 Date

World Asteroid Day 2022 is observed annually on June 30. The day aims at raising awareness about the risks of an asteroid impact.

World Asteroid Day 2022: What are asteroids?

Asteroids are those small rocky bodies that orbit around the Sun. The asteroids usually orbit between planets Mars and Jupiter and that is referred to as the ‘Asteroid Belt’. The sizes of asteroid varies ranges from about the size of the pebbles to about 600 miles across. There are thousands are asteroids that are believed to exist in our solar systems.

World Asteroid Day 2022: History

The United Nations General Assembly in December 2016 adopted the resolution A/RES/71/90 and designated June 30 as the International Asteroid Day. June 30 was chosen to observe the anniversary of the Tunguska asteroid impact over Siberia on June 30, 1908. The idea to observe World Asteroid Day was proposed by the Association of Space Explorers which was endorsed by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).

World Asteroid Day 2022: Why is Asteroid Day celebrated?

World Asteroid Day is observed all over the world to create awareness of the destruction that can be caused in the event of an asteroid impact. As people remain uninformed about the asteroids and the risks that they pose to the Earth and humankind, it becomes significant to familiarize them with the threats through campaigns, events, and more.

World Asteroid Day 2022: What do we know about Tunguska event in Siberia?

World Asteroid Day is observed to mark the Tunguska event in Siberia, an explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Yeniseysk Governorate, Russia on the morning of June 30, 1908.

The explosion over the sparsely populated Eastern Siberian Taiga flattened an estimated 80 million trees over an area of 2,150 km² of forests. The explosion is attributed to a meteor air burst.

The Tunguska event is the largest meteor impact event on the Earth in recorded history, however, much larger meteor impacts have occurred in prehistoric times.