Question – On which day ‘International Asteroid Day’ is celebrated every year?
(a) 26 June
(b) 28 June
(c) 16 June
(d) 30 June
Answer—(d)
related facts —
- Day ‘International Asteroid Day’ is celebrated every year on 30 June.
Concept —
- In December 2016 the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/71/90, declaring 30 June International Asteroid Day in order 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.”
- International Asteroid Day aims to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard 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.
- The General Assembly’s decision was made based on a proposal by the Association of Space Explorers, which was endorsed by Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).
- Near-Earth objects (NEOs) represent potentially catastrophic threats to our planet.
- NEO is an asteroid or comet, which passes close to the Earth’s orbit. According to NASA’s Center for NEO Studies, there are over 16 000 Near Earth Asteroids discovered.
- The Tunguska asteroid event in Siberia, Russian Federation, on 30 June 1908, was the Earth’s largest asteroid impact in recorded history.