• [Dailystar Icon]
• News
• Latest News
• Asteroids

Asteroid strike levelled 830 square miles of forest as scientists rate chances of a repeat

How much do you know about the millions of planetoids floating between Mars and Jupiter? Weve got the facts for International Asteroid Day

[An asteroid hitting the earth might look like this]

An asteroid hitting the earth might look like this(Image: Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)

Happy International Asteroid Day! This annual event on June 30, endorsed by the United Nations, aims to raise awareness of the flying space rocks from their scientific value to the dangers of an impact.

But how well do you know your minor celestial bodies? Here Meg Jorsh flies through a constellation of asteroid facts

Birthday bonanza

The June 30 date was chosen to commemorate the largest asteroid impact in recorded history.

The Tunguska Event, on June 30, 1908, saw a stony planetoid 50 to 60m (160 to 200ft) wide explode over Siberia, Russia, levelling 2,150sq km (830 sq mi) of forest.

[Flattened trees after the Tunguska event]

Flattened trees after the Tunguska event(Image: Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

It burned up so fiercely in the Earths atmosphere, it didnt even leave a crater.

Sounds like a blast

Long before that, a massive asteroid strike changed life on this planet for good.

The Chicxulub Event, 66million years ago, occurred when a rock 10km (6m) across slammed into the ground in modern Mexico, leaving a 200km (120m) crater.

It caused continent-sized wildfires, launching vast amounts of soot into the atmosphere and blocking out the sun.

The resulting climate chaos is believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs.

Ready to rock

Most of the asteroids in our solar system can be found in a belt that orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Around 1.6million have been catalogued, but there are thought to be many more.

The biggest is Vesta, with a 530km (329m) diameter, while the smallest are less than 10 metres (33ft) across. The total mass of all of them is less than that of Earths moon.

[The dinosaurs didn't have great luck with asteroids]

The dinosaurs didn't have great luck with asteroids(Image: Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)

Hitting home

NASA is constantly monitoring the skies for signs of an impending asteroid strike. They say it is highly unlikely a rock big enough to cause widespread damage will hit Earth for the next 100 years or more.

However, smaller versions roughly the size of a house reach the planet every decade or so. They cause a bright fireball and a sonic boom loud enough to break nearby windows.

Highly illogical

The asteroids we know about are all given names and they need to follow certain rules. That means one word if possible, inoffensive, original and up to 16 characters long.

The International Astronomical Union strongly discourages naming them after pets, but that didnt stop stargazer James B. Gibson in 1971. He named his discovery 2309 Mr Spock after his cat.

[The original Dr Spock also liked cats]

The original Dr Spock also liked cats(Image: CBS via Getty Images)

Strike it rich

The asteroids are made up of the rocky leftovers from the birth of our solar system, 4.6billion years ago. Their structures vary some of them have rings, or even tiny moons of their own.

Metallic asteroid 16 Psyche is thought to contain so much iron and nickel, its worth around $700 quintillion (530 quintillion). Thats enough to make everyone on the planet a multi-trillionaire.

[Dailystar Icon]

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Choose Daily Star as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.