Artist’s impression of the HERA mission. Image credit: ESA.

The final episode of 2019 includes a look back at a few things that have happened this year, and a look forward to the future.

Chris North & Edward Gomez discuss the developments in exoplanet discoveries, and what future missions (such as CHEOPS, Plato and Ariel) may be able to tell us about the wide range of planets out there. We’ve also had the visitation of interstellar Borisov, which we’ve discussed a-plenty on Pythagorean Astronomy. Meanwhile, IOP Wales’ Engagement Officer Dr Claudia Antolini recaps why spacecraft have been visiting some of the smaller objects in our Solar System, and what we’ll learn from upcoming missions such as HERA and DART. Specifically – how might they help protect the Earth one day?

Finally there’s one of the biggest stories of the last year – the first image of the horizon of a supermassive black hole in galaxy M87 with the Event Horizon Telescope.

An extended edition of an original broadcast on 2nd Jan 2020 as part of Pythagoras’ Trousers on Radio Cardiff.