Which discoveries, insights or inventions were the most important at the end of 2022? The publishers and editors of the renowned journal “Science” have thought about this and named the James Webb Space Telescope “Breakthrough” of the year, i.e. the biggest scientific breakthrough of 2022.
The superlative telescope has only been in operation for around six months. During this time, it has already provided many breathtaking images of cosmic objects and important new insights.
The ten billion dollar James Webb Telescope looks into space with its 6.50 meter main mirror in the range of infrared light waves. This enables insights that are not possible with optical telescopes like “Hubble” – for example the exploration of regions hidden behind clouds of dust.
The European Space Agency Esa, which is involved in the “James Webb program”, also chose a picture supplied by the space telescope as the picture of the year. It is the image of the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, 4.6 billion light-years away. It impresses even laypeople with its overwhelming wealth of details.
James Webb’s infrared image of SMACS 0723 is the deepest and sharpest view of the universe ever seen with a telescope. Thousands of galaxies are recorded there. It’s also a glimpse into the past, as the light caught by James Webb traveled 4.6 billion years. The spectacular image was presented to the world public on July 11, 2022 – during a Webb premieres event that was broadcast from the White House in Washington.
Since then, scientists have continuously published new findings that they gained with the help of “James Webb”. It’s about dust clouds in which new stars are born, old galaxies, the analysis of the atmosphere of distant exoplanets or the exploration of the planets in our solar system. With a spectral analysis, the infrared telescope was able to prove the existence of carbon dioxide in the gas envelope of an exoplanet for the first time.
It was only in mid-December that researchers published new findings on the star cluster NGC 3324 in the “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society”, which they owe to “James Webb”. In the infrared image, they could make out dozens of high-energy jets ejected from young stars. “Hubble” had already looked at this region of the so-called “Cosmic Cliffs” because the astronomers suspected a birthplace for stars there.
Hubble, however, was denied a glimpse into the cosmic delivery room because its visible-light eyes cannot see through a cloud of dust. James Webb’s infrared cameras are capable of this. By observing such regions of star birth, the scientists hope to gain new insights into how sun-like stars are formed and how radiation from neighboring stars may influence planet formation.
In recent years, it has not been discoveries from astronomy that have been proclaimed scientific breakthrough of the year by the “Science” editorial team. In 2021, that honor went to decoding the protein code using artificial intelligence. And in 2020, the most important thing was the development of new vaccines against the coronavirus.
