In honor of the upcoming 2020 edition of the project “Conduct.Science” (nauka.vesti.ru) has prepared a list of 20 of the most impressive astronomical breakthroughs of the year. We honestly tried to assemble a top ten, but in the end barely got to 20 points. So tell everything very interesting, but short (the details are in our articles on the links).
Smile of the abyss: first image of black hole
the image of a black hole, which astronomers waited decades.Illustration Of The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration.
Undoubtedly, the main astronomical event in 2019 has become the first in the history of “the” (actually an image in radio waves) of a black hole. To do this, astronomers have combined into a single network of 13 radio telescopes, located in Spain, Chile, USA and Antarctica.
the Image will allow to study the physics of black holes in unprecedented detail.
x-ray the Universe: the launch of Russian Observatory “Spektr-RG”
Spektr-RG in the representation of the artist.Illustration of the Federal space Agency/DLR/AWG.
13 July 2019 launched orbital Observatory “Spektr-RG”. It carries on Board two x-ray telescope: Russian ART-XC and eROSITA German.
For four years, the machine eight times to survey the entire celestial sphere, causing all major clusters of galaxies in the observable Universe. Also “Spektr-RG” will help study black holes, white dwarfs, stars with active crowns and many other interesting objects.
Kiss of the Sun: a probe Parker is once again immersed in the crown
Astronomers have studied the first data collected by the probe, who was directly in the Sun’s atmosphere.Illustration of NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben.
the spacecraft Parker was twice plunged into the Sun’s corona in November 2018 and March 2019. He became the first probe is approaching our sun at a distance comparable to its diameter. “News.Science” (nauka.vesti.ru) told in detail about the amazing discoveries made through these voyages.
it is Planned that the mission will continue until 2025, plunging into the crown more than 20 times.
course: InSight probe took the first marstrasse
the Seismograph probe InSight for the first time recorded the ground shaking.Illustration NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Device “insayt” sat on Mars in November 2018. It is designed to study the internal structure of the red planet.
In April 2019, he became the first probe, recorded tremors on Mars. Their nature is still to be confirmed. Meanwhile, anyone may listen to the audio of marzorati.
Moon: victory and defeat
“Chang’e-4” was the first vehicle traveling on the opposite side of the moon.Illustration Global Look Press.
the Past year was rich in news about the lunar missions. In January the Chinese unit “Chang’e-4” became the first in history, sitting on invisible from the land side of our natural satellite. By the way, he already gave astronomers the first open.
the Indian mission “Chandrayaan-2” less fortunate. In September its lander crashed while attempting to soft land on the surface of Selene. However, the bulk of the scientific equipment of the mission falls on the Orbiter, which has been successfully operating in lunar orbit.
And in April during the attempted landing, crashed Israeli private probe Beresheet.
note that about half of all made of humanyour attempts to soft land on the moon ended in failure. However, the authors of an ambitious lunar project is not stopping.
On the edge of darkness: the span of Arrogate
the Astronomers had to change my idea about the form of distant heavenly bodies.Illustration NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI/Steve Gribben.
January 1, 2019 asteroid 2014 MU69, previously informally known as Ultima Thule, and now – as Arrarat, was the most distant Solar system object ever visited by the spacecraft. Nearby flying probe “New horizons”.
the Mission spoke about the amazing form of the heavenly bodies and organic substances on its surface. By the way, the downlink transmission of the data collected will only be completed in the summer of 2020.
Alien: in the Solar system found second interstellar object
New interstellar visitor, the comet 2I/Borisov, if struck scientists, then its similarity to the comets of the Solar system.Photo Global Look Press.
don’t have time to lie down passions around the visit Omwamwi, as in the Solar system discovered a second object flew from the vicinity of another star. This comet 2I/Borisov, discovered by an Amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov. By the way, it turned out to be remarkably similar to our local comet.
In December, the visitor has passed the point of closest approach to the Sun and is now deleted. However, according to the calculations of theorists such visitors visit the Solar system on a regular basis. Just recently, astronomical instruments became sufficiently advanced to detect these small, dim, and fast the body. So ahead of us, it seems that many more discoveries.
Sit down-up: landing on an asteroid Ryugu
the Probe became the first spacecraft that took off from the asteroid.Illustration Wikimedia Commons.
In February 2019 Japanese probe “Hayabusa-2” is the second in the history of the unit, gently sat down on the asteroid (the first was NEAR Shoemaker, in 2001, sat down on Eros) and the first, soaring with it. The probe took samples of the soil.
In July, “Hayabusa-2” has repeated the feat, taking new samples, and in November began the journey to Earth. It is planned that he will come closer to our planet in December 2020 and throw off the orbit of the capsule with the ground.
Well, hole: discovered one of the largest black holes in the Universe
Black hole at the center of the galaxy Holm 15A has a mass of 40 billion suns.Illustration of NASA.
In 2019, astronomers “weigh” a black hole in the center of the galaxy Holm 15A. Its weight amounted to 40 billion suns. This giant was one of the biggest black holes known to astronomers.
Scientists believe that the colossus came when Holm 15A collided with another galaxy, and their Central black holes merged.
the Birth of the moons: the first recorded formation of satellites of extrasolar planets
the Age of the planet PDS 70b is only a few million years, and its formation is not finished.Illustration of NASA.
Around the newborn planet PDS 70b astronomers spotted a cloud of material, which is likely building material for its future satellites. As experts believe, of such clouds formed systems of Jupiter and Saturn.
By the way, none of the planets outside of the Solar system is not yet proven, the presence of the satellite. But there is pretty strong evidence, and scientists hope that the final confirmation – a matter of time.
clash of the titans: clash of the black hole neutron star
Almost all well-known bursts of gravitational waves generated by merging black holes, but this is a special case.Illustration LIGO/Caltech/MIT/Sonoma State (Aurore Simonnet).
In 2019 registered for the first time gravitational waves from colliding black holes and neutron stars. And recorded the collisions of black holes with each other, and at least twice – on collision of neutron stars with each other.
Exotic event will help researchers better study physics processes that cannot be reproduced in terrestrial laboratories. Because of this, they penetrate deeper into the mysteries of space, time and matter.
Drink as much as you want: potentially habitable planet found the water
On the planet K2-18b is water and the temperature comfortable for life in the form in which we know it.Illustration ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser.
K2-18b is a super-earths, the temperature at which allows life to exist. In 2019, this planet was the first of potentially habitable where you found water. Astronomers recorded the presence of water vapor in the atmosphere of this heavenly body.
Theorists believe that water is one of the most common chemical compounds in the Universe, so humanity is certainly ahead of many similar discoveries.
News from afar: “Voyager-2” has sent the first data from interstellar space
Edward stone, former Director of the jet propulsion Laboratory of NASA before the model Voyager.Photo by NASA/JPL.
“Voyager-2” left the Solar system at the end of 2018. In 2019, scientists have processed and opublikowaAli is the first data sent to them from interstellar space. They concern the density, temperature and other properties of space plasma outside the heliosphere.
Recall that the “Voyager-2” – one of the two devices that transmit data from outside the Solar system. Another one is its twin “Voyager-1”.
Tailed and otherworldly: first discovered comet from another star
for Decades scientists assumed that the beta of the Painter is of the comet. New results confirm this hypothesis.Illustration Of Michaela Pink.
Astronomers have long suspected that around the star beta Painter drawn to the cloud of comets. And here in 2019 TESS orbital telescope detected an unusual fall in the brightness of the star. Experts believe that the Eclipse caused by the passage of the cometary tail between star and observer.
If this version is confirmed, beta Painter will be the first star besides the Sun, which discovered the comet.
Victory over death: the merger of two extinguished stars formed “live”
the Nebula around J005311 in the infrared.Illustration of Basil Gvaramadze/MSU.
In 2019, astronomers, including the Russian, have found a very unusual star. Its chemical composition and other signs point to the fact that the light is formed in the collision of two cooling star cores – white dwarfs. In the object, resulting in their merge in a single whole, resumed the fusion reaction, that is, he became a full-fledged star.
the Education of such luminaries highly unlikely. Typically when merging white dwarfs is obtained or a new white dwarf or a supernova explosion. New data are perhaps the best proof that such stars actually appear.
What’s inside launched in spacecal telescope to study the composition of extrasolar planets
the Tool will help to determine the diameter of ecoplanet.Illustration ESA/ATG medialab.
what, what, what does… made exoplanet? To answer this question, we must know its density, and this is to measure the mass and diameter. In December 2019 by the European space Agency launched the telescope “Cheops”. It will measure the sizes of known exoplanets, particularly those for which there already exists an independent estimate of the mass.
However, along the way, the mission can give to the world the discovery of new worlds.
Unexplained light: new quasars flared in the eyes of astronomers
In the eyes of astronomers in a quiet galaxies broke quasars.Illustration ESA/Hubble, NASA, S. Smartt (Queen’s University Belfast); NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Recall that quasars are huge black holes in the centers of galaxies that are falling a giant mass of a substance. Rescales this matter strongly radiates in all ranges.
Previously, scientists believed that the process of transformation of the nucleus of the galaxy in the quasar is Millennium. But then it happened literally in front of them ∎ in a few months. The explanation for this phenomenon yet.
On opening week: the search for gravitational waves put on a stream
the Detection of the collision of black holes can now be expected every week.Illustration of NASA.
Recall that the commit gravitational waves extremely difficult. For this you need to detect and to distinguish from the noise of the displacement of the mirror at distances smaller than the diameter of a proton (!).
for the First time managed to do in 2015 to spring 2019 was was leashs 11 gravitational bursts. And in April ended the modernization of the detectors LIGO and VIRGO (the only existing at the moment). Since then, new entries on these events appear in the database several times a month.
Hot spots: the first map of the surface of the neutron star
a pulsar is a neutron star with a powerful magnetic field.Illustration Mark Garlick/University of Warwick.
In 2019, the first time scientists have gotten so detailed information about the pulsar that is able to build his map. They also determine the size and the mass of the neutron star, which will help to understand how its depths.
Interestingly, the location of hot spots (areas of surface that have a temperature of millions of degrees) was not such, as suggested by the experts. It seems that the magnetic field of the pulsar is more complex than was considered.
you can: tiny object on the outskirts of the Solar system discovered by an Amateur telescope
Astronomers have discovered a Kuiper belt object with a radius of about a kilometer.Illustration Ko Arimatsu.
It sounds unbelievable, but the Japanese astronomers have discovered an object with a radius of about a kilometer on the edge of the Solar system using a telescope with a diameter of 28 centimeters.
Experts believe that in the Kuiper belt is a lot of bodies But they are extremely hard to see with so little light they receive from the Sun. The discovery was made because of the way the object has eclipsed the stars. Usually this method is used on larger tools and can detect the body size of a few tens of kilometers. See kilometer goal in the Kuiper belt in the Amateur telescope – it is almost a miracle.
we will Remind also that earlier “News.Science” (nauka.vesti.ru) wrote about the astronomical results of 2018 and 2017. More news about the Universe can be found on our website under the tag #astronomy.
Text: To.Science
