Stars, planets, comets, eclipses and the missions that explored space, from the Big Bang to today.
Chronyas lists 3,060 events in this topic. These are among the most notable, grouped by era.
Ancient civilizations
- 466 BCEDiscovery of Halley's Comet
Early modern world
- 8 October 1604SN 1604
- 7 January 1610Discovery of Io
- 7 January 1610Discovery of Callisto
- 7 January 1610Discovery of Europa
- 7 January 1610Discovery of Ganymede
- 7 January 1610Galileo discovers the moons of Jupiter
- 25 March 1655Discovery of Titan
- 25 October 1671Discovery of Iapetus
- 23 December 1672Discovery of Rhea
- 21 March 1684Discovery of Dione
- 21 March 1684Discovery of Tethys
Industrial era
- 13 March 1781Discovery of Uranus
- 11 January 1787Discovery of Titania
- 11 January 1787Discovery of Oberon
- 28 August 1789Discovery of Enceladus
- 17 September 1789Discovery of Mimas
- 23 September 1846Discovery of Neptune
- 10 October 1846Discovery of Triton
- 16 September 1848Discovery of Hyperion
- 24 October 1851Discovery of Umbriel
- 24 October 1851Discovery of Ariel
- 12 August 1877Discovery of Deimos
- 17 August 1877Discovery of Phobos
- 9 September 1892Discovery of Amalthea
- 16 August 1898Discovery of Phoebe
- 3 December 1904Discovery of Himalia
- 2 January 1905Discovery of Elara
- 27 January 1908Discovery of Pasiphae
Modern era
- 21 July 1914Discovery of Sinope
- 1920Discovery of the Hoba meteorite
- October 1923Hubble shows that Andromeda is a separate galaxy
- 1927Lemaitre proposes an expanding universe
- 18 February 1930Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto
- 6 July 1938Discovery of Lysithea
- 30 July 1938Discovery of Carme
Contemporary world
- 16 February 1948Discovery of Miranda
- 1 May 1949Discovery of Nereid
- 28 September 1951Discovery of Ananke
- 4 October 1957Launch of Sputnik 1
- 3 November 1957Launch of Sputnik 2
- 2 January 1959Launch of Luna 1
- 12 April 1961Launch of Vostok 1
- 15 December 1966Discovery of Janus
- 18 December 1966Discovery of Epimetheus
- November 1967Jocelyn Bell discovers pulsars
- 21 December 1968Launch of Apollo 8
- 1969Discovery of the Murchison meteorite
- 22 October 1969Discovery of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko
- 14 November 1969Launch of Apollo 12
- 11 April 1970Launch of Apollo 13
- 3 March 1972Launch of Pioneer 10
- 7 December 1972Launch of Apollo 17
- 6 April 1973Launch of Pioneer 11
- 14 May 1973Launch of Skylab
- 3 November 1973Launch of Mariner 10
- 14 September 1974Discovery of Leda
- 30 September 1975Discovery of Themisto
- 20 August 1977Launch of Voyager 2
- 5 September 1977Launch of Voyager 1
- 22 June 1978Discovery of Charon
- 4 March 1979Discovery of Metis
- 5 March 1979Discovery of Thebe
- 8 July 1979Discovery of Adrastea
- 1 March 1980Discovery of Helene
- 13 March 1980Discovery of Calypso
- 8 April 1980Discovery of Telesto
- October 1980Discovery of Atlas
- October 1980Discovery of Prometheus
- October 1980Discovery of Pandora
- 24 May 1981Discovery of Larissa
- 22 August 1981Discovery of Pan
- 23 August 1981Discovery of Pallene
- 27 December 1984Discovery of the Allan Hills 84001
- 30 December 1985Discovery of Puck
- 3 January 1986Discovery of Juliet
- 3 January 1986Discovery of Portia
- 9 January 1986Discovery of Cressida
- 13 January 1986Discovery of Desdemona
- 13 January 1986Discovery of Rosalind
- 13 January 1986Discovery of Belinda
- 18 January 1986Discovery of Perdita
- 20 January 1986Discovery of Cordelia
- 20 January 1986Discovery of Ophelia
- 23 January 1986Discovery of Bianca
- 19 February 1986Launch of Mir
- 16 June 1989Discovery of Proteus
- 28 July 1989Discovery of Despina
- 28 July 1989Discovery of Galatea
- 18 September 1989Discovery of Naiad
- 18 September 1989Discovery of Thalassa
- 24 April 1990Launch of Hubble Space Telescope
- 24 March 1993Discovery of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9
- 23 July 1995Discovery of Comet Hale-Bopp
- 6 October 1995Discovery of 51 Pegasi b
- 30 January 1996Discovery of Comet Hyakutake
- 6 September 1997Discovery of Caliban
- 6 September 1997Discovery of Sycorax
- 15 October 1997Launch of Cassini−Huygens
- 1998Supernovae show that cosmic expansion is accelerating
- 20 November 1998Launch of International Space Station
- 18 July 1999Discovery of Stephano
- 18 July 1999Discovery of Prospero
- 18 July 1999Discovery of Setebos
- 6 October 1999Discovery of Callirrhoe
- 7 August 2000Discovery of Kiviuq
- 7 August 2000Discovery of Paaliaq
- 7 August 2000Discovery of Ymir
- 23 September 2000Discovery of Ijiraq
- 9 November 2000Discovery of Albiorix
- 23 November 2000Discovery of Iocaste
- 23 November 2000Discovery of Praxidike
- 23 November 2000Discovery of Harpalyke
- 23 November 2000Discovery of Erinome
- 23 November 2000Discovery of Kalyke
- 23 November 2000Discovery of Isonoe
- 25 November 2000Discovery of Taygete
- 25 November 2000Discovery of Megaclite
- 26 November 2000Discovery of Chaldene
- 5 December 2000Discovery of Dia
- 13 August 2001Discovery of Francisco
- 13 August 2001Discovery of Trinculo
- 13 August 2001Discovery of Ferdinand
- 9 December 2001Discovery of Hermippe
- 9 December 2001Discovery of Kale
- 9 December 2001Discovery of Eurydome
- 9 December 2001Discovery of Sponde
- 10 December 2001Discovery of Autonoe
- 11 December 2001Discovery of Euporie
- 11 December 2001Discovery of Euanthe
- 11 December 2001Discovery of Orthosie
- 11 December 2001Discovery of Thyone
- 11 December 2001Discovery of Aitne
- 11 December 2001Discovery of Pasithee
- 23 July 2002Discovery of Sao
- 10 August 2002Discovery of Halimede
- 13 August 2002Discovery of Laomedeia
- 14 August 2002Discovery of Neso
- 31 October 2002Discovery of Arche
- 5 February 2003Discovery of Eukelade
- 5 February 2003Discovery of Eupheme
- 5 February 2003Discovery of Jupiter LXXIII
- 5 February 2003Discovery of S/2003 J 4
- 6 February 2003Discovery of Helike
- 6 February 2003Discovery of Kallichore
- 6 February 2003Discovery of S/2003 J 18
- 6 February 2003Discovery of S/2003 J 10
- 6 February 2003Discovery of S/2003 J 9
- 6 February 2003Discovery of Eirene
- 6 February 2003Discovery of S/2003 J 19
- 6 February 2003Discovery of S/2003 J 16
- 6 February 2003Discovery of Philophrosyne
- 6 February 2003Discovery of S/2003 J 23
- 8 February 2003Discovery of Herse
- 8 February 2003Discovery of Aoede
- 8 February 2003Discovery of Hegemone
- 8 February 2003Discovery of Kore
- 8 February 2003Discovery of S/2003 J 12
- 9 February 2003Discovery of Carpo
- 9 February 2003Discovery of Thelxinoe
- 9 February 2003Discovery of Mneme
- 9 February 2003Discovery of Cyllene
- 10 June 2003Launch of Spirit
- 25 August 2003Discovery of Cupid
- 25 August 2003Discovery of Mab
- 25 August 2003Launch of Spitzer Space Telescope
- 29 August 2003Discovery of Margaret
- 29 August 2003Discovery of Psamathe
- 2 March 2004Launch of Rosetta
- 1 June 2004Discovery of Methone
- June 2004Discovery of Anthe
- 21 October 2004Discovery of Polydeuces
- 26 January 2005Discovery of Hiʻiaka
- 1 May 2005Discovery of Daphnis
- 15 May 2005Discovery of Nix
- 15 May 2005Discovery of Hydra
- 30 June 2005Discovery of Namaka
- 10 September 2005Discovery of Dysnomia
- 19 January 2006Launch of New Horizons
- 4 April 2007Discovery of Gliese 581 c
- 4 August 2007Launch of Phoenix
- 7 March 2009Launch of Kepler Space Telescope
- 28 June 2011Discovery of Kerberos
- 5 August 2011Launch of Juno
- 5 December 2011Discovery of Kepler-22 b
- 26 June 2012Discovery of Styx
- 21 September 2012Discovery of C/2012 S1
- 1 July 2013Discovery of Hippocamp
- 23 July 2015Discovery of Kepler-452b
- August 2015Discovery of K2-18 b
- 24 August 2016Discovery of Proxima Centauri b
- 5 May 2018Launch of InSight
- 10 April 2019The first image of a black hole
- 27 March 2020Discovery of C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)
- 30 July 2020Launch of Perseverance
- 25 December 2021Launch of James Webb Space Telescope
- 12 May 2022The first image of the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way
- 12 July 2022The James Webb Space Telescope releases its first images
- 14 July 2023Launch of Chandrayaan-3
- 1 April 2026Launch of Artemis II