‘Christmas Star’ and ‘Comet of the Century’ to New Hubble Masterpiece

What is your favorite space picture of 2020? There were dozens to choose from, with Comet NEOWISE’s short, bright and stunning look in the summer definitely one of the best events. If that kept amateur astrophotographers busy, so did a couple of amazing solar eclipses and some close planetary connections.

However, astronomers using large terrestrial and space telescopes and a spacecraft – including the Chilean Super Telescope (VLT), the Hubble Space Telescope and the state-of-the-art Solar Orbiter – have helped make 2020 the a special year for science imagery. There were some amazing close-ups of the Sun, the mysterious star Betelgeuse, the birth regions of stars in space, and even images of distant exoplanets.

Here is our selection of the best space photography of 2020 in a specific order, starting with sin comet.

1. ‘Comet of the century’ to date (July 2020)

Portent of doom or a big slice of celestial fortune? Dozens of comets enter the Solar System each year, but they are rarely seen with the naked eye. In July, the NEOWISE Comet, or C / 2020 F3, sent its two tails first to the southern hemisphere and then to the northern hemisphere.

About 64 million miles at its closest, Comet NEOWISE is about three miles wide and traveled at 144,000 mph. It is expected to be repaid in 6,800 years or so.

2. ‘Big connection’ once in 10-lives on the winter solstice (December 2020)

Very few people will ever see this. On Monday, December 21, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn appeared closer together than for nearly 400 years at just 0.1º.

Seen in the night sky after sunset, it was the closest the planets had come to each other since a “great connection” in 1623, but it was the easiest to see from 1226.

3. Best ever image of the Sun from the Earth (January 2020)

The tallest ever image of the Sun from Earth was unveiled in January 2020 by scientists at the new Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, the most powerful solar telescope in the world.

It shows plasma cells rising from the inside of the star with dark borders showing where plasma cools and sinks.

4. Eclipse of the Sun (December 2020)

On Monday, December 14, 2020 a total eclipse of the Sun occurred to those who were under the narrow “total path” across South America as decisions were made in North America on a precarious, eclipse-wise day. .

The usual commands of eclipse runners added to the ethereal experience had to stay away.

5. Venus in the ‘Seven Sisters’ (April 2020)

Second to the “major collaboration” for planetary imagery in 2020 was the Venus-Pleiades connection in April 2020.

During the event the open collection of Pleiades or “Seven Sisters” stars received an additional “star” to become “Eight Sisters.”

6. ‘Circle of fire’ on summer solstice (June 2020)

On 21 June 2020 99.4% of the sun was covered by the Moon for less than a minute as seen from parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Non-professional outer astronauts were in effect for this rare annular solar eclipse that was visible on a narrow path through the Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Yemen , Oman, Pakistan, India, Tibet, China and Taiwan.

7. First image of two exoplanets orbiting a star (July 2020)

Astronauts used a giant telescope in Chile to capture the ever-present images of a young star, similar to the Sun, with the two giant planets Jupiter and Saturn in orbit.

The Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope (VLT) captured two giant gas exoplanets orbiting a star called TYC 8998-760-1. It is about 300 light-years away.

8. ‘Blazing starbirth’ on Hubble’s 30th anniversary (April 2020)

Her iconic images have redefined our view of the Universe, and for its 30th anniversary the Hubble Space Telescope added to its achievements with this stunning image of a stellar photogenic nursery.

The image shows the 2014 NGC giant nebula and its neighbor NGC 2020 which together form part of a large star-forming region in the Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.

9. Jupiter’s ‘rainbow’ view (August 2020)

In a combination of ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared light, scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope created this unique multi-wave image of Jupiter.

It should help them see where smoke and grains are spread on the gas giant.

10. Betelgeuse appeared ‘dusty’ (February 2020)

Before you know what the scientific world came through the first months of 2020 wondering if the bright star Betelgeuse was going to explode like a supernova. of course please one day, within the next 100,000 years, when his heart falls.

However, it eventually became clear that the star’s eclipse, which began in October 2019, may have been just layers of dust blocking its light and causing its apparent appearance to change – such as represented by this image from the South Chilean Observatory (VLT).

11. ‘Campfires’ appeared on the sun (July 2020)

Scientists have released the first close-up of the Sun from space taken by the new Solar Orbiter spacecraft, which showed a modern solar phenomenon known as “campfires. ”The images were taken as the spacecraft – a collaboration between ESA and NASA – 48 million miles / 77 million kilometers from the sun.

That’s about half the distance between the Sun and the Earth, which is closer to our star than any other solar telescope has ever been.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.