Reach for the Stars With This Space Discoveries Quiz

In 2018, ice was detected on the moon’s poles, and in 2019, a mission revealed hydration on the moon. In 2020, NASA confirmed that the molecule in question was H2O and not OH (hydroxyl). This discovery of water on sunlit areas of the moon gives scientists more to ponder because they initially believed any lunar water heated by the sun would have evaporated.

In 1995, scientists discovered the first planet orbiting a sun located outside of our solar system. The “51 Pegasi b” exoplanet, formally named Dimidium, was a monumental discovery. Before this, scientists had no proof of other planets outside of our solar system. The exoplanet is located 50 light-years from Earth and has a temperature of 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.

In 1964, astronomers noticed that massive amounts of gas were being sucked away from a blue supergiant star that was orbiting close to the constellation Cygnus. The gas spiraled into a black hole, named Cygnus X-1, and gave off so much heat that satellites could detect high-energy X-rays and gamma rays.

In 1971, NASA’s robotic space probe Mariner 9 mapped 85% of the Martian surface and sent back over 7,000 images of the Red Planet’s landscape, including shield volcano Olympus Mons, canyon Valles Marineris, and the two small moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. Olympus Mons stands around 72,000 feet high, which is more than twice the height of Mt. Everest, and as wide as the state of Arizona.

In the second century CE, Roman astronomer Claudius Ptolemy wrote “Almagest,” a guide that describes the 48 ancient constellations. He collected these constellations from various sources including Babylon, Greece, and Egypt. Ptolemy also listed apparent motions of the stars and planetary paths. Astronomers have been adding to Ptolemy’s list for centuries, leading to the 88 recognized constellations of today.

Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei made some of astronomy’s most important early discoveries, including the four largest moons of Jupiter (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto), which are now referred to as the Galilean moons. Galileo also discovered that the Milky Way was made up of individual stars, and he was the first to see lunar craters, sunspots, the phases of Venus, and Saturn’s rings.

While looking through his 100-inch telescope at Mount Wilson in Southern California in 1923, American astronomer Edwin Hubble noticed that the “Andromeda Nebula” (now called the Andromeda Galaxy) had stars very similar to our galaxy. He deduced that it was an entirely different galaxy. Hubble also proved that objects that were previously labeled as dust, clouds, and gas were actually more galaxies.

Amateur astronomer Samuel Heinrich Schwabe first observed the giant storm on the surface of Jupiter in 1831. Twice the size of Earth, the storm is essentially a massive hurricane that whirls around Jupiter’s southern hemisphere with wind speeds up to 425 mph. Jupiter doesn’t have a solid surface, so there is nowhere for the storm to “break," which scientists believe is partially to blame for the ongoing storm.

One of NASA’s most famous space race-era programs, Apollo was active from 1969 to 1972 and was the first program in the world to land humans on the moon. During its course, Apollo landed six flights on the moon and supported 12 different astronauts’ moonwalks. The program provided groundbreaking research, including detailed studies of the lunar surface, moon rock samples, and the development of lunar rovers.

Launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, Sputnik I was the first human-made object to be sent into space. Sputnik I provided crucial data for future space travel, including how to place things into orbit, the density of Earth’s atmosphere, and orbital tracking. The basketball-size satellite orbited for three weeks until its batteries died, and it eventually burned up in the atmosphere.