Full Moon. Rises at sunset, high in the sky around midnight. Visible all night.

Moon overview on solarsystem.nasa.gov

On February 15 2013 an asteroid exploded in the sky over the city of Chelyabinsk, in the the southern Ural region of Russia. The shock wave blew out windows all over the city, injuring over 1600 people, and damaged several buildings.

This event could well be the tipping point in public awareness about asteroids; a year after the event, the B612 Foundation and hundreds of scientists, engineers, entertainers, astronauts, astronomers, politicians, citizen activists and others got involved in what has turned into the global AsteroidDay campaign.

Each year, on the anniversary of the Tunguska Impact, events are held around the world to raise awareness of asteroids: their potential for space-side exploitation, planet-side destruction, and impact mitigation.

See also: #AsteroidDay

International Asteroid Day is a United Nations-recognized day observed each year at the international level during the anniversary of the Tunguska impact over Siberia, Russian Federation. The goal of International Asteroid Day is to raise public awareness about the asteroid impact hazards.

The Tunguska explosion of June 30, 1908 knocked down some 80 million trees over an area of 2,150 square kilometres (830 sq mi); the shock wave from the blast would have measured about 5.0 on the Richter scale.

World Space Week is the largest space event on Earth. More than 8,000 events in 96 countries celebrated “The Moon: Gateway to the Stars” last year. This year the theme is “Satellites Improve Life.” In 2021, World Space Week celebrates “Women in Space.”

“The General Assembly declares 4 to 10 October World Space Week to celebrate each year at the international level the contributions of space science and technology to the betterment of the human condition”

UN General Assembly resolution, 6 December 1999

The year in the Roman calendar naturally starts on March 1. After all, the words September, October, November, and December literally mean Seventh Month, Eighth Month, Ninth Month, and Tenth Month, respectively.

Keeping track of the passage of years was primarily the concern of those keeping historical records. Ordinary people were not particularly concerned with long-scale time reckoning. In many ancient cultures historical events were dated in regnal years, i.e., using a time reckoning system starting with the anniversary of a sovereign’s accession or coronation. Under this system, the first day of the new year is the anniversary of the king’s or pope’s accession, i.e., the new year’s day would change with every new ruler.

In most cultures, new year’s day was not a cause for celebration for its own sake. People may have celebrated the anniversary of the king’s ascension or some religious feast, and the fact that these were used in time reckoning as dividing points between two consecutive years was quite secondary. In medieval Europe, March 25 (the Annunciation) was probably the most widespread new year’s day but the practice was far from universal. For instance, Rome used December 25 while Florence used March 25.

January 1 became new year’s day gradually from the 14th to the beginning of the 19th century.

Portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. Credit: Nobel Foundation

“Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. Born in Atlanta, King is best known for advancing civil rights through nonviolence and civil disobedience, tactics his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi helped inspire.” – Wikipedia