It was the year humanity came closest to understanding what holds the stars in the sky.
Scientists tentatively announced earlier this year that they had confirmed the existence of an elusive particle that helps explain what gives all matter in the universe size and shape.
But 2012 brought other space discoveries, natural and man-made.
It also saw the death of the first human to walk on the moon.
Neil Armstrong's death in August was mourned across the world, as people remembered how he made history in July 1969, becoming the first human to walk on the moon.
Millions across the world watched on their televisions as the commander of the Apollo 11 mission stepped onto the moon.
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. "
United States President Barack Obama described Neil Armstrong as one of the greatest American heroes of all time.
Buzz Aldrin, hot on Neil Armstrong's heels as he walked onto lunar soil, told the BBC the space community will miss his presence.
"I was fortunate to be one of those crew members and to fly with an outstanding test pilot, Neil Armstrong, and accompany him. So it's very sad indeed. And I think that the entire aerospace world will be very saddened to hear this news. We're missing a great spokesman and leader in the space program."
Humanity has since turned its attention beyond the moon to one of Earth's closest neighbours, Mars.
NASA's new robotic explorer Curiosity successfully landed on Mars in August and has already begun beaming pictures back to Earth.
It was the US space agency's seventh landing on Mars, but unlike its predecessors, its job isn't to look for aliens or current life on Mars.
It's searching for any of the building blocks that may have supported life at some stage, as NASA Administrator Charles Boldon explained.
"Curiosity, the most sophisticated rover ever built, is now on the surface of the Red Planet, where it will seek to answer age-old questions about the planet, whether life ever existed there on Mars or whether the planet can sustain life in the future."
And in December, NASA announced the first soil analyses had detected simple organic compounds on Mars, although it cautioned it's much too soon to know if they're significant.
Australia also played a role in getting Curiosity to touchdown.
The Deep Space Communication Complex at Tidbinbilla near Canberra was the only one in the world that aligned perfectly with Mars, meaning scientists in Australia had a direct line of communication with the rover at all times.
Earth's other close neighbour, Venus, played a rare starring role in 2012, as it crossed in front of the Sun.
In 1769 the measurement of the Transit of Venus led British astronomer and explorer Captain James Cook to find the east coast of Australia.
Melbourne astronomer Perry Vlahos says professional and amateur stargazers were all drawn to observatories in huge numbers, not wanting to miss the last transit of Venus until December 2117.
"No-one alive today will get another opportunity to see something like this, so everyone who has heard about the transit of Venus wants to come and be part of it. And I think the second factor is people want to make a direct connection with historical figures that observed these transits over the last 400 years. So there's that very physical connection you can make, observing the same event as what Captain Cook saw, for example, back in the late 1700s."
Looking beyond our solar system will become easier, after a futuristic radio telescope officially opened in remote Western Australia that could give unprecedented insights into the formation of the Universe.
The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder at Murchison Radio-Astronomy Observatory, 700-kilometres from Perth, will eventually combine with other arrays in South Africa to become part of the world's largest radio telescope.
As Doctor Brian Boyle from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation explains, the dishes which listen to radio waves from space will help astronomers answer questions about how galaxies have formed and evolved.
"Radio waves tell us unique things about the cosmos. About the gas from which stars were formed and about exotic objects - pulsars and quasars - that really pushed our knowledge of the physical laws in the universe. Radio astronomy also gives us a unique insight into the very beginnings of the universe."
While technological advances have allowed humanity to see deep into space, a complete understanding of the universe is still elusive.
But this year it's come close, with the announcement that physicists may have found the Higgs boson, called by some the God particle, 50 years after its existence was hypothesised.
The announcement at the European Centre for Nuclear Research that scientists at the Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator in Switzerland appeared to have discovered the Higgs Boson was greeted with cheers and applause.
CERN's director general Rolf Heuer stressed that the results are preliminary and further detailed studies need to be carried out to pin down whether the particle is indeed the long sought-after Higgs boson or something else.
"As a layman I would say we have it. But as a scientist I have to say "What do we have?" We have something. We have discovered a boson. Now we have to determine what kind of boson it is, that's in the scientist's language so to speak."
Finding the Higgs boson is key to proving the Standard Model, a theory that describes how particles clump together to form stars, planets and life itself.
The retired British physicist who conceived the Higgs boson in 1964, and one of the *two scientists after whom it is named, has congratulated those who worked on the experiments.
Eighty-three year old Peter Higgs says it is incredible the discovery has happened in his lifetime.
"I think it is not appropriate for me to answer any detailed questions at this stage. This is an occasion celebrating an experimental achievement. And I simply congratulate the people involved."
Australian scientists were involved in the construction of one of the two particle detectors used in the experiments.
The Director of the Melbourne node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Particle Physics, Professor Raymond Volkas, says the breakthrough has been a long time coming.
"In a way we have been waiting for it for decades. But on the other hand the LHC - the Large Hadron Collider at CERN - has been working so fantastically well so the fact we are able to talk about it today is because of the concerted effort made by all sorts of very talented and dedicated and hard working engineers and technicians, as well as scientists, to actually get this facility to work beyond expectation."
However momentous the confirmation of the Higgs-bosun would be, it belongs to a realm of science the vast majority of people don't understand.
What everyone loves, though, is a good solar eclipse.
And in Northern Queensland in November the heavens obliged, plunging the region into darkness for several minutes.
Eclipse-chaser Dr Kate Russo travels the world in search of total solar eclipses.
She was one of thousands in Cairns to experience 'totality' - the total eclipse of the sun.
"When you see the moon in front of the sun and you can see the beautiful corona around it, it's just an awe-inspiring sight. You feel very insignificant but you also feel very connected with the world, with the universe, with nature. So it's a very empowering experience. You feel huge as a person, just incredibly powerful."
* Higgs-Boson is also named after Indian scientist Satyendra Nath Bose, who discovered the particles known as bosons.
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