International Asteroid Day 2023: History, significance, and facts to know

World Asteroid Day 2023 is observed every year on June 30, and it aims to spread awareness about asteroid impact on earth. Asteroids are leftovers from the formation of our solar system

World Asteroid Day is observed every year on June 30 to raise awareness about the potential threat the asteroids can inflict upon impact with our planet. The World Asteroid Day, also known as International Asteroid Day, is observed to inform the masses about the crisis communication actions warranted during a potential asteroid impact situation.

Asteroids are small celestial rocks revolving around the sun. These bodies are the leftovers from the solar system formation, and their size could be as small as 10 metres and as large as 510 km in diameter.

World Asteroid Day 2023: History

The United Nations General Assembly declared June 30 as International Asteroid Day by passing a resolution in December 2016. The date has its own significance as it is also the anniversary of the Tunguska asteroid’s impact over Siberia on June 30, 1908.

The Association of Space Explorers submitted the proposal later approved by the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).

World Asteroid Day 2023: Significance

The day is a reminder of the devastating impact of the Asteroid on Earth. The day highlights the 1908 Tunguska incident and the Chelyabinsk event of 2013, which are recorded in history.

The day also aims to encourage discovery of more asteroids in our solar system, as only a small percentage has been discovered so far, and scientists believe that hundreds more are yet to be discovered. The day is ideal to think about protecting the earth from the hazardous effect of asteroids.

The importance of this day is underscored by the fact that around 65 million years ago, a huge asteroid struck earth with a devastating force that is believed to have wiped out the existence of dinosaurs which inhabited our planet at the time. 

World Asteroid Day 2023: Asteroids Facts

• Asteroids have different shapes and sizes, which teaches about the formation of the solar system.
• Ceres was the first asteroid to be discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1801.
• An asteroid impact around 65 million years ago triggered a chain of events resulting in the extinction of dinosaurs on earth.
• Most asteroids are found orbiting in the asteroid belt, which is a series of rings located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
• Some orbits are blown-out comets. When the ice was gone, the remaining were rocky materials.