3 thoughts on “Santa in space”

1. As 2019 and the past decade close, a retrospective …

   Space.com > “The Decade in Astronomy: These Space Discoveries Shaped the 2010s” by Sarah Wells (December 27, 2019)

   From the rise of TESS to flybys of Pluto and Cassini’s dramatic demise, the past ten years have produced some incredible science. Here are some of our favorite discoveries from the decade.

   Excerpts from the article:

   After Deep Impact [spacecraft] visited Comet Tempel 1 in 2005, NASA realized the spacecraft still had enough fuel to visit another comet as well. 2.9 billion extra miles (4.6 billion kilometers) later, it met up with Comet Hartley 2 [in 2010].

   Also in 2010, the sun began to wake up, with some extremely powerful solar flares!

   After a 6.5-year journey, NASA announced in 2011 that the Messenger spacecraft had safely entered into orbit around the planet Mercury.

   NASA’s Dawn spacecraft [launched in 2007] reached the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter to observe one of its largest rocks, Vesta.

   The [Voyager 1] spacecraft, which originally launched in 1977, finally passed beyond the influence of our sun and entered interstellar space in 2012.

   Comet ISON passed by the sun on November 28, 2013 (American Thanksgiving) and broke apart.

   … in February 2013 a 56-foot (17-meter) meteor exploded 930 miles above the city of Chelyabinsk in Russia, just east of Moscow.

   Also in 2013, scientists were able to identify evidence of cosmic rays on Earth.

   … the European Space Agency (ESA) visited a comet’s surface in 2014. The spacecraft, named the Philae lander, touched down and made brief observations.

   In 2014, for the first time ever scientists were able to take an image of our universe’s cosmic web.

   NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft successfully flew past the icy dwarf planet [Pluto] in 2015.

   In September 2015 scientists confirmed that geysers observed on Saturn’s moon Enceladus are evidence of a global ocean inside the moon, not an isolated lake.

   [In 2016] Scientists were able to observe for the first time ever evidence of gravitational waves, …

   [Also in 2016] the Hubble Space Telescope spotted what appeared to be 125-mile-high (200 kilometers) geysers of water vapor erupting from the south pole of Jupiter’s moon, Europa.

   August 17, 2017 … scientists observed the collision of two incredibly dense neutron stars, by detecting both gravitational waves and light created in the collision.

   Just days later, … on August 21 [there was] a once-in-a-century event: the great American solar eclipse.

   2017 saw the demise of a beloved mission, Cassini. The spacecraft launched in 1997 to orbit and observe Saturn and its many moons — and boy, did it.

   In October 2017 scientists detected the first known alien visitor [a space rock later named ‘Oumuamua] passing through our solar system.

   After nearly 15 years on the Martian surface, the Mars Opportunity rover finally lost contact with Earth on June 10, 2018, …

   The same year saw the end of another iconic mission, the exoplanet-hunting space telescope Kepler.

   Kepler’s successor was already up and running after launching in April 2018. Like Kepler, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is designed to search for exoplanets.

   … in 2019 … New Horizons flew past a Kuiper Belt object dubbed 2014 MU69 [officially called Arrokoth] … The Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 was orbiting an asteroid called Ryugu …

   In April [2019], an international collaboration published the first ever image of a black hole, …

   Note: Space.com > “Historic 1st Photo of a Black Hole Named Science Breakthrough of 2019” by Charles Q. Choi (December 19, 2019)

   The first image of a black hole, previously thought nigh impossible to capture, was named the top scientific breakthrough of 2019 by the journal Science.

2. More retrospective as we start the new year …

   Space.com > “Asteroids, Comets, Black Holes — Oh My! The Year 2019 in Astronomy” by Nola Taylor Redd (December 27, 2019)

   … on New Year’s Eve this year, NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (or the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft) entered into orbit around the asteroid Bennu.

   In April [2019], NASA’s InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) lander felt the ground move under its robotic feet as the spacecraft sensed its first confirmed marsquake [earthquake on Mars].

   Launched in 2018, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is on a mission to “touch the sun” as it draws closer to the planet over its seven-year mission.

   On Nov. 11 [2019], the tiny planet Mercury made its last transit of the sun until 2032.

3. And highlights in physics for 2019 …

   Quanta Magazine > “The Year in Physics” by Michael Moyer (December 23, 2019) – Physicists saw a black hole for the first time, debated the expansion rate of the universe, pondered the origin of time and modeled the end of clouds.

   A Black Hole Seen for the First Time

   Controversy Over the Growing Universe [the expansion rate]

   The End of the Proton Problem [the radius of the proton]

   Where Do Time and Space Come From?

   People forget that “Big Bang” was originally a term of derision. Fred Hoyle, who invented it, believed that the universe had existed for all eternity and that the problems inherent in a universe popping out of nothing were too absurd to contemplate.

   Material Surprises [graphene “twistronics”]

   Quantum Theory Gets Weirder [e.g., “quantum trajectory theory”]

   Planet-Size Problems [cloud cover and climate change / burning]

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