WASHINGTON 鈥� Happy New Year鈥檚 Eve everyone.
Last year at this time I was in the Indian Ocean enjoying the stars way down under and couldn鈥檛 get out a “Top Space Pick for 2015.” The would have been my pick.
For 2016鈥檚 pick, we leave the solar system and enter the realm of the Cosmos. is my pick for 2016鈥檚 鈥淭op Space Story.鈥�
Ever since humans looked up at the night sky 2.5 million years ago and the invention of the astronomical telescope by Galileo in 1609, almost all information we have gleaned about the universe has come to us in the form of electromagnetic radiation.聽 鈥斅爎adio waves to gamma rays.
I say “almost all” because we have sent spacecraft to land on planets, comets and asteroids, obtained comet dust and sent humans to the moon. We have recovered over 50,000 meteorites 鈥斅爎ocks from space 鈥斅燼nd specimens from the moon and Mars. All of this has added to our cosmic knowledge.
The detection of gravitational waves was made possible by finally developing the exquisite technology that enabled us to detect the physical warping of space-time by an event. in June 2016 and showed us that more events were going to come our way, that gravitational waves were not a “one and done” occurrence.
Gravitational wave astronomy is now a new branch of humanity鈥檚 oldest science. and . New discoveries regarding black holes, neutron stars and the Big Bang itself . Even more exciting is what we don鈥檛 know about that we will uncover. Therein lies the prize of new discoveries and knowledge.
What lies ahead space-wise in 2017? NASA will get a new administrator, and we will see what that means for the country鈥檚 space program. There are a number of unmanned missions scheduled to go to the moon in 2017. Also, the U.S. .
And once again, what we don鈥檛 know about in the upcoming space year will be the ultimate prize.
Have a safe and wonderful new year, and we鈥檒l follow the universe together in 2017.
Follow my daily blog to keep up with the latest news in astronomy and space exploration. You can email me at skyguyinva@gmail.com.
