International Asteroid Day: Six interesting facts that will reignite your curiosity about space

From the explosion in Tunguska in 1908 to Mumbai students discovering an Earth-crossing asteroid, here’s what you need to know about these rocky objects and their relationship with the Earth

Remember the time when we were children and wanted nothing more than to be an astronaut? We may have talked ourselves out of the ambition but that doesn’t mean we cannot still obsess over space and its various mysteries. A lot of developments have been going on not only at the global level but also in India in the last few years.  

Every year, June 30 is celebrated as ‘International Asteroid Day’ by experts and space enthusiasts all around the world. From why the United Nations decided to mark this day to how India has been actively discovering asteroids, here are some interesting facts about the small rock bodies that orbit the sun: 

History and significance
The United Nations chose June 30 as ‘International Asteroid Day’ in December 2016. It coincides with the Tunguska event — a large explosion which occurred in Siberia, Russia and flattened almost 2,000 sq km of land —on June 30 in 1908. While the exact source of the explosion is unknown, scientists believe it was either an asteroid or a comet, which produced energy a thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. 

The day was designated to raise awareness about the hazard of asteroid impact and “to inform the public about the crisis communication actions to be taken at the global level in case of a credible near-Earth object threat”. It also aims to use technology to detect and track near-Earth Asteroids that could possibly threaten the world population. While initiating the use of technology, the declaration also lays emphasis on accelerating the need for their discovery by hundredfold. 

A star-studded list of founders
While the UN declared the day, it was also co-founded by the likes of theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking, Apollo 9 astronaut Russell Louis Shweickart, Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May, filmmaker Grigorij Richters and Danica Remy, who is the president of the B612 Foundation. 

Fireball in 2013 
Almost 105 years later after the Tunguska event, the Earth saw another explosion. On February 15, 2013, Russia experienced an explosion in Chelyabinsk, only the second largest that the planet has witnessed in the last two centuries. It was caused by a meteor, called a superbolide, which was 18 metres in diameter and weighed almost 11,000 tonnes. It produced as much as 440 kilotons of energy. For comparison, one kiloton is a unit of explosive power equivalent to 1,000 tons of TNT.

Among the planets
On June 30 in 2017, the International Astronomical Union named the minor planet 248750, which was discovered by M. Dawson, as Asteroidday. 

So near yet so far from Mumbai
Two students from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) discovered 2020QG, the closest asteroid to fly by Earth without impacting it. It was identified by Kunal Deshmukh and Kritti Sharma while working on a research project, just hours after it passed close to the surface on August 16. They used data from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) in California, US and were taking a look at the images from the day along with Chen-Yen Hsu at the National Central University in Taiwan, when they made the discovery, according to an Indian Express report. 

The previous known asteroid to fly closest to Earth was called 2011 CQ1 and discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey in 2011. 

Another brush with asteroids for India
In March this year, the International Astronomical Union said Indian students had discovered 18 new asteroids as a part of the International Asteroid Discovery Project. It was conducted by Indian company Stem & Space, which educates children about astronomy and space, with the help of the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC). 

Around 150 students, who were a part of the programme analysed astronomical data provided by the IASC, which usually focuses on helping children discover asteroids or near-Earth Objects. While they initially spotted 372 asteroids, 18 were confirmed to be new and thus recorded. 

Earlier this month, six Indian scientists in Andhra Pradesh also discovered four near-Earth asteroids during a programme conducted by the All India Asteroid Search Programme through the IASC under a NASA grant. 

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