The top 10 astronomical events of 2021

What a year! The year has seen many exciting space events, such as tonight's Comet Leonard. We also witnessed the largest auroras on record during the 25th solar cycle rise, once again. It was also a year of great leaps in science. So, follow our lead now as we look back at the top 10 astronomical events that happened in 2021.

#10 -- Farfarout became the most distant object in the solar system to date

In January 2018, astronomers detected a distant, fuzzy object in the solar system and named it a "distant star." Astronomers returned a few years later and announced on Feb. 10, 2021, that the object, named AG37 in 2018, was the most distant object ever found in the solar system.

The distant star at the edge of the solar system is expected to be 250 miles (400 km) across and about 132 times farther from the sun than the Earth. In this simulation, the sun is at the top left. The Milky Way runs diagonally across the background.

#9 -- Walk with Juno

The Juno spacecraft completed its flyby of Saturn on June 8, 2021. Juno previously flew close to Gameredes, a large moon of Saturn, the closest it has flown to the planet in 20 years. Then, on Mission 34, Juno reached its closest point to Saturn, or Jupiter 34. NASA released the video on July 14. In the video, we follow Juno's lens through the flyby of Garnemaud and Saturn.

#8 -- Research shows that climate changes the Earth's axis

On March 22, 2021, a new study suggested that melting glaciers due to a warming climate may be responsible for the shift in Earth's axis since the 1990s. In the mid-1990s, when the glaciers melted and produced abundant water, they re-flowed, triggering a shift in the Earth's axis and accelerating its eastward drift.

#7 -- Interplanetary visitor Borisov could be the first visible primordial comet

We currently know of only two interplanetary visitors (that is, passing from one star system to another) that have visited our solar system: Oumuamua and Borisov. Oumuamua has received a lot of attention due to its unusual shape and possible origin from a planet outside the solar system. The relatively low profile of Borisov's location is more clear, this comet may come from a near red dwarf star. Its chemistry suggests that the comet may never have crossed paths with other stars before. Stefano of the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium in Northern Ireland, UK. "If this is the case, then Borisov may be the first observed transinterstellar primitive comet," Mr Bagnuolo said.

#6 -- Venus may have signs of life in its clouds

In late 2020, scientists studying Venus's atmosphere announced the shocking and controversial discovery of phosphine in the clouds of Venus. On Earth, this chemical is basically metabolized by life. Jane at Cardiff University Wales. Grevers and her colleagues asked whether phosphine might be a sign that Venus's atmosphere harbors microbes. Possibly, other scientists say, but phosphine itself is not evidence of life, and subsequent research has cast doubt on whether it ever existed. Lakesh, Cal Poly Pomona, California, in March 2021. Building on a study by Tycoon that confirmed the phosphine discovery, it was further suggested that other related biochemical materials in Venus's atmosphere were in an unbalanced state: another signature of life.

A hypothetical view of the pioneer mission to Venus. This image shows the Pioneer probe launching four small probes into Venus' atmosphere in 1978. By re-analyzing data collected during the mission, the study confirmed the previously proposed idea of phosphine and other biochemical components of Venus's atmosphere that show signs of life.

#5 -- Hessian planet could become a habitable ocean world

Is there life beyond Earth? It seems highly likely, although we still haven't found sufficient evidence. However, on July 26, 2021, astronomers said they had discovered a new class of exoplanets, giving a major boost to the search for life. They called it Hessian's world, a combination of hydrogen and ocean. Such planets have vast oceans and hydrogen-rich atmospheres that cover the planet. Researchers say they could be habitable.

#4 -- The new planet next door?

Astronomers have scanned an image of material near Alpha Centauri, a star system about 4.4 light-years from our sun. Could this material be an asteroid? Stardust? Or just an image glitch... Or a planet? If it is a planet, it would be the first known planet to be mapped in a star's habitable region. In this region, flowing water could exist, and life as we know it would have arisen.

Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to the Sun. The smaller image shows two basic stars, A and B (A third magnitude star, slightly further apart). A new study suggests that planets may exist in the habitable region of Alpha Centauri.

#3 -- Super solar flares strike Earth multiple times

A super solar storm hit Earth between 774-775 AD. Scientists revealed the event in 2012 by analyzing a surge of carbon-14 in tree rings. The global surge in carbon-14 in trees provides evidence for this inference and suggests that the event had a global impact at the time. Last month, scientists said they had found evidence for two more events, one in 5259 BC and the other in 7176 BC, after examining data from a sixth of the tree rings.

On September 10, 2017, a solar flare erupted. This flare pales in comparison to other solar flares.

#2 -- Mysterious cabin on the far side of the Moon

Since landing on the moon on January 3, 2019, the distant Feng. Since Karman Crater, China's Yutu 2 probe has been working smoothly on the lunar surface. On December 3, 2021, it recorded a strange exercise log. It found a square object on the horizon and named it Mystery Hut. The blog was posted on Our Space, an official website affiliated with the China Aerospace Administration.

#1 -- The First sign of extraterrestrial Intelligence?

On October 11, 2017, scientists tracked a strange interplanetary object passing through the solar system. Since then, most astronomers have come to believe that Oumuamua as we know it is a natural object. But Harvard physicist Avi. Loeb still thinks it may be the first alien relic, an object made by aliens from another star system to arrive in our galaxy. Loeb's new book Oumuamua, the First Sign of Intelligent extraterrestrial Life, exposes this possibility.