It’s Asteroid Day, Asteroid Video Observation Day – Space & Astronomy

It’s theAn opportunity to learn more about asteroids How much can we do for And protect us from possible future impacts:And that’s the goalAsteroid dayforAn international event launched in 2015. By a host of figures from the world of science and culture (including Brian May, astrophysicist and Queen guitarist) to remember Anniversary of the largest asteroid impact in modern historywhich happened in TunguskaIn Siberia, June 30, 1908.

Asteroid Day, also officially recognized by the United Nations, It is celebrated with hundreds of events around the world.. in Italy The event is coordinated by astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, scientific director of the Virtual Telescope Project. As always, our country is playing a leading role Dozens of appointments Among planetariums, museums and astronomical observatories, from north to south. The full program is available Connected On the Virtual Telescope Project website.

This year they celebrated the first Asteroid Day Flyby of two asteroids. The first arrived June 27 The asteroid was 2011 U21It is one of the ten largest planets that approached our planet in the last century, while the others arrived June 29 The asteroid was 2024 Mkten times smaller but just as bright.

This close sequence from Asteroid Day reminds us just how important that is It is important to keep an eye on these potentially dangerous items Which orbits near our planet. In particular Discovery Asteroid 2024 MK It happened only last June 16 Thanks to the network Atlas TelescopesIt is an alert system developed by the University of Hawaii and funded by NASA, and consists of four telescopes (two in Hawaii, one in Chile and one in South Africa). They automatically scan the sky several times each night for moving objects. The official announcement of the existence of 2024 MK was made on June 19, a few days before its flight.

Orbit of asteroid 2024 MK as it passes close to Earth on June 29, 2024 (Source: Gianluca Masi, Virtual Telescope Project)

The asteroid reached its closest approach to Earth on Saturday, June 29, at 3.46 p.m. Italian time, passing 290,000 kilometers from our planet (about 75% of the distance between the Earth and the Moon). With a diameter ranging between 120 and 260 meters, 2024 MK”It will become one of the brightest objects of its kind seen in modern history“It’s a very good idea,” Massey notes.

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