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You're listening to Cultivate Curiosity, a
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This podcast is perfect for anyone curious
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Hi, everyone.
My name is Jacie and I am
your host for this week's episode of
Cultivate Curiosity.
Today, I want to talk to you
guys about two astronomical events one
that already occurred and one that's going
to occur next week and then also
a astronomical celebration day.
So I guess let's get right into
it.
The event that already occurred was the
summer solstice.
Summer begins with the solstice on
Wednesday, June 21 marking the
astronomical first day of summer in the
Northern Hemisphere.
The June solstice, also known as the
summer solstice, occurs when the sun
travels along its northernmost path in the
sky.
The solstice marks the official beginning
of summer in the Northern Hemisphere,
occurring when Earth arrives at the point
in its orbit where the North Pole
is at its maximum tilt which is
about 23.5 degrees towards the sun
resulting in the longest day and shortest
night of the calendar year.
And by longest day, that means the
longest period of sunlight hours.
So it's not technically a longer day.
It's still 24 hours.
It's just we get the most sunlight
on the day of the June solstice.
The Northern Hemisphere receives sunlight
at the most direct angle of the
year as well.
In the Southern Hemisphere, though, the
June solstice marks the beginning of
winter.
So they're kind of the opposite season
of us right now.
We're summer hot, they're winter cold.
The word solstice comes from the Latin
word solstitium from soul which means sun
and stidium still or stopped due to
Earth's tilted axis.
The sun doesn't rise and set at
the same locations on the horizon.
Each morning and evening, its rise and
set positions move northward or southward
in the sky as Earth travels around
the sun through the year.
Also, the Sun's track in the sky
becomes higher or lower throughout the
year.
The June solstice is significant because
the sun reaches its northernmost point in
the sky at this time at which
the point the sun's path does not
change for a brief period of time.
So this is kind of why the
Latin word solstice soul sun is still
or stopped.
After the solstice, the sun appears to
reverse course and head back in the
opposite direction.
The motion referred to here is the
apparent path of the sun.
When one views its position in the
sky at the same time each day
for example, at local noon over the
year its path forms a sort of
flattened figure eight called an anilemia.
Of course, the sun itself is not
moving.
Instead, this change in position in the
sky that we on Earth notice is
caused by the tilt of Earth's axes
as it orbits the sun, as well
as Earth's elliptical rather than circular
orbit.
So that's some information on the summer
solstice which occurred on June 21.
So last Wednesday, and now I want
to talk about that celebration day that
I said so on June 30, which
is this Friday, will be International
Asteroid Day.
So in December of 2016, the United
Nations General Assembly declared June 30
International Asteroid Day in order to
observe each year at the international
level the anniversary of the Tongusca
impact over Siberia Russian Federation on
June 3019 Eight, and to raise public
awareness about the asteroid impact
hazard.
So the Tangusca impact happened over the
sparsely populated northern forest land,
over Podcamenia Tangusca River, and what
is present day cresnoyarsk cry I'm sorry
if I butchered that.
The blast released enough energy to
flatten estimated 80 million trees over an
area of 830 sq.
Mi.
Witnesses reported seeing a fireball, a
bluish light nearly as bright as the
sun, moving across the sky.
In addition, a flash and a sound
familiar to artillery fire was said to
follow it.
A powerful shockwave broke windows
hundreds of miles away and knocked people
off their feet.
A mysterious aspect of the Tongusca event
was that, surprisingly, no one ever found
a crater.
But even without a crater, scientists
still categorize it as an impact event.
They now believe the incoming object never
struck Earth, but instead exploded in the
atmosphere, causing what's known as an
airburst.
This type of atmospheric explosion was
still enough to cause massive damage to
the forest in the region.
NearEarth objects, or Neos, represent
potentially catastrophic threats to our
planet.
Neo is an asteroid or comet which
trashes closer to the Earth's orbit.
According to NASA's Center for Neo
Studies, there are over 1600 near Earth
asteroids discovered so far.
The Tongusca asteroid event in Siberia on
June 3019 eight was the Earth's largest
asteroid impact in recorded history.
The United Nations Office for Outer Space
Affairs has worked on neos for many
years recognizing an neo impact hazard as
a global issue demanding an international
response.
Addressing such a hazard, including the
identification of those objects that pose
a threat of impact and planning a
corresponding mitigation campaign requires
cooperative action in the interest of
public safety on the part of the
global community.
Building on recommendations for an
international response to an neo impact
threat endorsed by the Committee on the
Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.
In 2013, the International Asteroid
Warning Network and the Space Mission
Planning Advisory Group were established.
In 2014, the International Asteroid
Warning Network uses welldefined
communication plans and protocols to
assist governments in the analysis of
possible consequences of an asteroid
impact and to support the planning of
mitigation responses.
The Space Mission Planning Advisory Group
is an interspace agency forum that
identifies technologies needed for Neo
deflection and aims to build consensus on
recommendations for planetary defense
measures.
Dart the double asteroid redirect test was
a huge hit.
Quite literally, the spacecraft smashed
into an asteroid moon called Didymus B
or dimorphus on September 26, 2022.
The goal was to prove that we
can send a spacecraft to push an
asteroid slightly out of its orbit.
It was practiced for a possible future
scenario in which we find a hazardous
asteroid barreling toward Earth.
NASA said on October 11, 2022 that
analysis of data obtained from the Dart
mission shows the spacecraft did indeed
successfully alter the orbit of dimorphus.
ESA's Hair mission is due to launch
in 2024.
Their mission will journey to Didymus to
study Dart's impact on the asteroid.
And the last thing I want to
talk to you guys about is that
other astronomical event that's coming up.
It's actually going to be on July
3, which is the July full moon.
The full moon will be visible on
July 3 starting at 06:30 a.m.
Here in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
Times may vary if you are in
a different area, so definitely look it
up.
So in July, the full moon has
many different names.
So it can be called the buck
moon, named after the new antlers that
emerge from a buck's forehead around this
time of year.
Male deer or bucks shed their antlers
and grow new ones every year.
Other Native American tribes call it
thunder moon because of the frequent
thunderstorms in the summer.
In Celtic, this moon is known as
the herb moon, indicating that July is
the time to gather herbs to dry
and use as spices and remedies.
The Anglo Saxons called it the hay
moon after the hay harvest in July.
So there's quite a few different names
that you can use for this full
moon, but definitely check it out on
July 3, right before July 4.
Just something cool to look at.
And that is all I have for
today's episode of Cultivate Curiosity.
Thank you guys so much for listening,
and I hope you guys do check
out that full moon.
And we'll be back in two weeks
with another really awesome episode for
you guys.
Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's
episode of Cultivate Curiosity.
If you have any questions, feel free
to email us at social media@ecscience.org.
Tune in for our next episode in
two weeks.