Know The Top 5 Space News And Discoveries Of 2016

As the year draws to a close, here is a compilation by Science World Report about the top events and discoveries that ruled space news in 2016. The following headlines were the most talked about topics of the year that created the biggest ripples and invoked maximum curiosity among the scientific community and readers in equal measure.

1. The Solar System May Have an Elusive Planet Nine

Two astronomers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) found evidence that indicated the presence of a mysterious ninth planet in the solar system, also referred to as Planet X. The elusive world is yet to be directly imaged; however, the researchers detected its presence from the planet's gravitational influence on other objects in the solar system, earlier this year.

2. Gravitational Waves Detected for the First Time in Space

Researchers from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) discovered gravitational waves for the first time this year. The phenomenon was first predicted by Albert Einstein over 100 years ago. Gravitational waves are ripples in space time formed by huge cataclysmic events. Incidentally, LIGO was made to detect gravitational waves, and they were found first on Feb. 11 and for a second time on June 16 this year. The ability to find gravitational waves has opened up an absolutely new way to study the universe.

3. Proxima b, the Closest Exoplanet to Earth Discovered

2016 also saw the discovery of a planet orbiting the Sun's nearest neighbor, the Proxima Centauri star. Named Proxima b, the newly identified exoplanet is located 4.25 lightyears away. Incidentally, early observations and studies by researchers have indicated that Proxima b is a rocky world like Earth, which is located in its host star's habitable zone, indicating it could support surface liquid water and perhaps life, too.

4. NASA's Juno Spacecraft Reaches Jupiter's Orbit

The Juno mission by NASA arrived in orbit around Jupiter after a journey of five years. The spacecraft was specifically created to withstand the giant gas planet's extreme radiation environment. The probe will include flybys of Jupiter to study its auroras, until the spacecraft is deliberately deorbited in 2018.

5. European Space Agency Arrives at Mars but Crashes

European Space Agency's (ESA) ExoMars mission, which included an orbiter and a lander, arrived in the orbit of the Red Planet on Oct. 20 this year. The orbiter satellite was successfully inserted into Mars' orbit; however, the ExoMars Schiaparelli lander experienced technical problems upon descent onto the planet and crashed down on the surface, a fact that was discovered by NASA's HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.