HEAPOW: Unopened: The Year in Preview (2018 Dec 31)
The past year was full of wonder: long-standing puzzles solved, new mysteries uncovered, frontiers crossed. The most astonishing event of the past year was undoubtedly the detection of a cosmic interloper, a high energy neutrino produced by a supermassive black hole, that made a journey of some 4 billion years, unerringly targeted at earth, to finally light up the subterranean ice of Antarctica. This year further saw the restructuring of the Gamma-ray sky into constellations marked by terror and whimsy. New measurements of the photon residue left behind by the big bang. A binary system that acts as its own magnifier. A shock driven by a star that creates cosmic rays. The possible destruction of an iron-rich planet (perhaps earth-like?) by its host star. A celebration of the profound contributions of Neil Gehrels, the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, and EXOSAT to the cause of discovery. And a neutron star binary system bearing what we think is a gift of gold to our poor cosmos. A year full of astounding advances. What will the new year bring? Each new year the Universe lays before us, dark and wide, bearing many more surprising gifts for us to open, if we only have the wisdom to open them.
HEASARC Picture of the Week: 2018
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