The past year has been full of amazing discoveries.

From the point of view of science 2019 was a breakthrough for cosmology. For example, it was the first “live” photo of the black hole produced by the RAM of the asteroid, and the spacecraft plunged into the atmosphere of the Sun. Read our selection of the most important historical events of the past year related to space, writes “Today”.

Past 2019, the year was full of amazing discoveries, full of the best gadgets and innovative devices. From the point of view of science 2019 was a breakthrough for cosmology. For example, it was the first “live” photo of the black hole produced by the RAM of the asteroid, and the spacecraft plunged into the atmosphere of the Sun. Read our selection of the most important historical events of the past year related to space.

Interstellar comet

In 2017, the scientific community was excited by the opening of the first interstellar visitor in the Solar system – asteroid Muamua. The first alien from the depths of the Universe had unusual cosmic bodies an elongated shape resembling a cigar.

At the end of summer 2019 Amateur astronomer from the Crimea suddenly found a comet, who also came to us from the depths of the Universe. It was named in honor of the discoverer – 2I/Borisov. The calculation of the orbit showed that the comet Borisov came to us from outside the Solar system. This time astronomers were ready and took some impressive photos. In December the comet passed the Earth and flew past the Sun. Now interstellar traveler rapidly leaves the Solar system.

Landing on an asteroid

Last year two probes have explored asteroids, and one of them even landed. The first was the Japanese machine “Hayabusa-2”, which literally crashed into the surface of the asteroid, the Ryuga, to do re-sampling. Later, the probe will bring valuable material to the Ground and landed in Australia in mid-2020.

The second mission is NASA’s OSIRIS-REx, which 2 years later the flight got to the asteroid Bennu. He found a strange behaviour: this space cobblestones are literally “spits” in the space of small rubble and gas, which is strange for an asteroid with a diameter of only about half a kilometer. At the moment the probe is only planning to collect samples and are looking for a place to land.

“Live” picture of a black hole

Decades the researchers examined the most mysterious objects in the Universe – black holes. However, until 2019, they represented only schematically on paper or in the form of renderings, after the computer calculations. They were noticed also by indirect signs of rapid rotation of the objects around them due to the huge force of gravity, and the trail of devouring stars companions.

Two years ago planetary Event Horizon telescope started to observe the black hole at the center of the galaxy M87. After collecting the data, in 2019, we received the first “live” the black hole, which confirmed the theoretical calculations. Giant size, weight 6.5 billion Suns and a huge accretion disk around the black hole allowed her to see better. This event has become one of the most disruptive in the history of science.

Immersion in the atmosphere of the Sun

At the end of 2018, the spacecraft NASA literally “bitten” piece (captured particles) of the Sun. And in may 2019 were committed to re-entry into the atmosphere of our star. After two flights the probe Parker gave the scientific data to Earth that surpassed the expectations of the researchers – they turned out to be 22 GB, which is half more than expected.

No device in the history of space exploration is not approaching the Sun as close as Parker, so measurements, which are now estimated by scientists, were previously not available. Four of the Parker device is capable of measuring particles in the solar atmosphere, its magnetic field, the solar wind and how the electrons, protons and ions escape from the hot plasma ball. A large array of new data greatly expand our knowledge about the Sun and its impact on the entire Solar system.

The conquest side of the moon

3 January 2019, the spacecraft “Chang’e-4” from China for the first time in the history of mankind was able to conquer the dark side of the moon. This part of our natural satellite is poorly known, no one previously has been able to prioitize in this area. After landing in the Aitken basin near the South pole of the moon apparatus is transmitted to Earth the first image, which proved a successful start to its mission.

What does the far side of the moon look like?
China’s Chang’e-4 probe gives you the answer.
It landed on the never-visible side of the moon Jan. 3 https://t.co/LTvlaS5HNf pic.twitter.com/Ibb8yIARLU

— China Xinhua Sci-Tech (@XHscitech) January 3, 2019

After landing “Chang’e-4” spent a few missions. On Board was a Rover “WiTu-2”, which actively studied the surface of our satellite. Its aim is to conduct scientific tests with a detector of neutron radiation, low-frequency Radiodetection, infrared spectrometer and other devices that will focus on monitoring the composition of the surface of the moon.