Astronomy News 2020

Astronomers kicked off 2020 with a discovery of a distant galaxy group, and throughout the year they kept on making groundbreaking discoveries. These ranged from a new planet around a white dwarf to the best evidence yet of a mid-sized black hole. Comet NEOWISE dazzled with a rare naked-eye appearance, and the discovery of roiling acid clouds on Venus sparked intense interest. Meanwhile, a big announcement about Mars kept the dream of human settlements there alive. And SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule ferried astronauts to the International Space Station for the first time in a decade.

Astronomy also saw the inauguration of the next generation of spacecraft. NASA’s New Frontiers missions began sending back data, while the agency formally opened the competition for private companies to design and build its next lunar lander, known as the Artemis mission. And as 2020 came to a close, the Hubble Space Telescope celebrated its 30th anniversary in space.

The pandemic forced some adjustments in the realm of astronomy, but scientists kept on pushing forward. Scientists at the International Space Station continued to test out life in space, including genetically enhanced mice and Nickelodeon’s slime, while the Astronomy for a Changing Earth program used the station to examine the effect of global warming on the planet’s surface.

Meanwhile, on the planetary front, NASA’s Curiosity landed on Mars and sent back spectacular images. Its sister probe, Opportunity, is continuing to explore the craters on the red planet. In 2021, we should find out which private company will be chosen to design and build a lunar lander for the Artemis mission, and we’ll see the inaugural test of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, which is supposed to get people and robots to the Moon in 2024.

In other astronomy news 2020, a team of astronomers announced the detection of methyl alcohol in space. The substance, which is used in wood alcohol, was found in a region about 6500 light years away. The find suggests that other alcoholic molecules, such as ethanol, may exist in outer space, too.

Another intriguing astronomical development: Scientists discovered that when a star runs out of fuel, it can billow out to a million times its original size, swallowing any matter—and possibly planets—in its wake. The finding, reported in Nature, is the first of its kind.

Other astronomical highlights of 2020 include the confirmation of a planet around a white dwarf, and the detection of a gamma-ray burst from an era when the Universe was much younger than we thought. And as the year draws to a close, a rare total solar eclipse will be visible in parts of South America.

The aforementioned discoveries, plus meteor showers, icy comets, eclipses and more, means that the nights ahead should be filled with exciting events. Those who have access to telescopes will want to check out the Quadrantids, a meteor shower that’s expected to produce fireballs brighter than most planets. And on Halloween, Saturn and Jupiter will appear as a bright double planet in the night sky.