Asteroid Day 2020: Date, history & significance

Asteroid day is approaching on June 30. Curious toIt is celebrated to mark the anniversary of the Tunguska event which had flattened 2000 sq km of forests on June 30. Due to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic this year, most events related to the Asteroid day will be conducted virtually. Asteroids are small rocky objects in the solar system that just like planets revolve around the Sun.

They are also understood as the bodies which did not get a chance to become full fledged planets. Asteroids hold special significance in the field of space science as scientists believe that research on these rocky bodies could provide insights about the evolution of life on the planet.

Asteroids are generally found in the Asteroid belt which is a zone found between Mars and Jupiter planet in the Solar system. This is the zone where the asteroids orbit around the Sun. The first asteroid was discovered in the year 1801 by astronomer Guiseppe Piazzi and named 1 Ceres. This is also the largest and the biggest asteroid discovered so far by space scientists.