Today is the 3rd yearly Asteroid Day, and the very first to be provided under the auspices of the United Nations, with live worldwide broadcasts raising awareness about asteroids
Today, more than 1,000 regional occasions in around 200 nations are being arranged to commemorate Asteroid Day. Approved by the United Nations in 2016, it is a worldwide day of education to raise awareness about asteroids.
In addition to the regional occasions, a day-long broadcast will be sent from all over the world, with a six-hour live stretch originating from Luxembourg. This is where I will be, sharing the hosting responsibilities with Professor Brian Cox from 11am BST. You can see the entire thing in the video ingrained above.
My association with Asteroid Day started with a telephone call from film-maker Grig Richters one afternoon in 2014. I understood Grig and had actually dealt with him on his movie, 51 North, drama about the destructive accident of an asteroid with Earth.
On the phone that afternoon, he informed me that he wished to establish a day to smartly interact the risk of asteroids and why it required an international reaction. This resonated with me since the UK Governments Asteroid Task Force, from 2001, had actually suggested structure worldwide partnership to take on the concern.
Grigs co-founders for Asteroid Day were Brian May, Queen guitar player and astrophysicist, Rusty Schweickart, Apollo 9 astronaut, and Danica Remy of B612, a non-profit organisation that looks for to harness the power of science and innovation to safeguard the future of our world.
Thanks to their efforts, Asteroid Day was a success from the start however this year the variety of occasions is double that from one year earlier, and 4 times as lots of as throughout the inaugural Asteroid Day in 2015.
Asteroid Day happens on 30 June due to the fact that on this day in 1908, a little heavenly body struck an unoccupied location of Siberia, Russia. The blast ravaged 770 sq miles (2,000 sq km) of forest. Thats ample to ruin an entire city ought to one be struck.
Around the world, area firms and other organisations are working to understanding and ultimately safeguarding Earth from this risk. This growing international partnership is exactly what is being commemorated today.
Space has constantly had an astonishing capability to unify individuals no matter their political, spiritual or nationwide departments. Asteroid Day take advantage of that, promotes it and ideally boosts it.
To participate in Asteroid Day, anywhere you are, view the live feed in the audience above and publish any pertinent concerns for the specialists in the remarks listed below. We will be scanning them throughout the day.
Stuart Clark is the author of The Search for Earths Twin (Quercus). He will be providing the Guardian masterclass on Is there life beyond Earth?
