It’s kind of fitting that 2020 may go down in space discovery history as the year of the black hole – considering all of our plans for this year seemed to disappear down a black hole of their own.

However, not all researchers agree on this scenario and continue to observe Betelgeuse. The star is typically one of the brightest in our sky. Montargès et al.īut Hubble helped astronomers determine that the star ejected some of its material, which blocked light from the star. This image shows the red supergiant star Betelgeuse as it was dimming in December 2019. The first results returned by NASA’s InSight lander revealed that Mars is seismically active and experiences Marsquakes on a regular basis. This water could be used as a resource during upcoming missions – like NASA’s return of humans to the lunar surface through the Artemis program.

New research revealed there may be more water on the moon than previously believed, including on its sunlit surface. The moon, Venus, Mars and Jupiter all made news with new discoveries on each planet that are intriguing researchers. But, scientists point out, this means the comet isn’t exactly new, only new to us, because it previously passed through Earth’s skies when humans were present about 6,800 years ago. This is why we won’t see the comet again in our lifetimes – it takes thousands of years to travel the outer solar system before returning to the inner solar system. And it’s incredibly bright, even if it’s not as spectacular as Comet Hale-Bopp as witnessed in 1997.Īfter disappearing from view, the comet continued on its very long orbit to the edge of the solar system. Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Imagesīy observing the comet, the researchers have learned that it’s about 3 miles in diameter, the average size for a comet with a long orbit. It’s named after NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, otherwise known as the NEOWISE mission, which discovered it in late March.Ī stork stands on a power lines pillar as the comet NEOWISE is seen in the sky above the village of Kreva, some 100 km northwest of Minsk, early on July 13, 2020. And the current crew recently received a VR camera and a new toilet based on astronaut feedback.Ĭomet NEOWISE brought delight as it streaked across our skies.

A suite of studies revealed some of the genetic changes astronauts experience during long-term spaceflight, a crew had to handle a blood clot in space, and NASA astronaut Christina Koch set a new spaceflight record for women.Ĭommercial cargo vehicles and crew transport provided by SpaceX are allowing more experiments and astronauts to travel to and from the space station – which means that even more scientific discovery is possible on the space station in the future.

NASAĪstronauts harvest radishes grown aboard the International Space StationĪstronauts also learned more about how their bodies adapt to space. 27, 2020, NASA astronaut and Expedition 64 Flight Engineer Kate Rubins checks out radish plants growing for the Plant Habitat-02 experiment that seeks to optimize plant growth in the unique environment of space and evaluate nutrition and taste of the plants.

Astronomical phenomena dec 2020