International Asteroid Day 2021

International Asteroid Day is observed on 30 June each year to raise awareness about the harmful effects of asteroids on Earth and the measures that should be taken about the risks and impacts.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2021

This year’s International Asteroid Day marks the 113th Anniversary of the largest recorded asteroid impact that took place near the Tunguska River in remote Russian Siberia.

According to scientists, who study Near-Earth Objects or NEOs, most asteroids are irregularly shaped. They are often pitted or have tiny craters.

In December 2016, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring June 30 as the International Asteroid Day to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazard.

Asteroids are small rocky bodies orbiting the Sun. They are sometimes called minor planets. According to the NASA, asteroids are rocky remnants left over from the early formation of our Solar System about 4.6 billion years ago.

There are currently 10,97,106 known asteroids, says the NASA. Asteroids are different from meteors, which are small bodies of matter that appear as a streak of light when entering the Earth’s atmosphere.