Now is the perfect time to look up

Now is the perfect time to look up

by editor

A lot of things are happening on Earth these days. Donald Trump will soon be sworn in as president of the United States, wars are escalating, and the ecosystem is on the brink of collapse. Many aspects of life feel unpredictable. But beyond our planet, things are expanding. There is no doubt that this is the best time in history to study the universe.

The immensely powerful James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has upended textbook fundamentals time and time again since its launch in 2021. Surveillance galaxies, which were born shortly after the Big Bang, are much brighter and larger than scientists thought they should be, leading to the discovery of ancient black holes observed to be surprisingly massive and the discovery of exoplanets. For the first time, life-supporting compounds such as carbon dioxide have been identified in the atmosphere. Discoveries are being made so rapidly that scientists may not know which of the many discoveries to focus their research on.

These riches are only increasing with several other high-priced observatories that have recently opened or will open soon. In 2023, Europe launched the Euclid Telescope into space to focus on the dark universe, the mysterious dark energy and dark matter that appears to dominate the universe. This year, Chile’s Vera C. Rubin Observatory will begin photographing the entire sky every few nights to observe moving objects, short-term flares, and how the universe changes over time. And in 2027, NASA The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will join JWST to observe the universe in infrared light and peer into the earliest days of the universe.

About supporting science journalism

If you enjoyed this article, please consider supporting our award-winning journalism. Currently subscribing. By subscribing, you help ensure future generations of influential stories about the discoveries and ideas that shape the world today.

JWST’s price is $10 billion (the most expensive observatory ever built), Euclid’s price is $1.5 billion, Nancy Grace Roman’s price is $4.3 billion, Vera C. Rubin’s price is $473 million and more to come. Are there so many problems here on earth?

Improving life on Earth is a worthy goal, and so is astronomy. Even with these high costs, less than 0.5% of the U.S. federal budget goes to NASA each year. And our space research shows that we humans can still achieve great things by working together across nations and rivalries. This proves that we can spend huge resources and efforts on goals that do not bring monetary or material benefits. Knowledge is valuable in itself, and its pursuit is justified even if it is of virtually no use on this earth.

But in reality, astronomy has a direct impact on people’s lives. The need to power spacecraft prompted the development of solar panel technology for use on Earth. Research into charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras used in telescopes has made it possible to put cell phone camera technology in your pocket. Additionally, viewing the Earth from space has helped us understand our changing climate and even united humanity in recognizing the fragility of our world.

And what we stand to lose if we divert funding to space research is literally astronomical. The Rubin Observatory alone will generate about 20 trillion bytes of raw data per night, and the Roman Telescope will add an additional 1 trillion bytes each day. Not to mention that JWST sends approximately 50 billion bytes every day. After all, astronomers now have access to a firehose of astronomical information that was once available trickle by drop. Mining these treasure troves helps us understand what happened when the universe was first created. We may discover how stars and galaxies are born, evolve, and die. We hope that we may be able to solve the greatest mystery of the universe: what is dark matter made of? What is the nature of the dark energy tearing the universe apart? Is there life beyond us somewhere?

The money and effort that goes into understanding the universe and our place in it is never wasted. This project is one of the most noble projects undertaken by humankind. Astronomy reminds us that we are part of something much grander than ourselves: that the chaos of life on Earth, its wonders and tragedies, is not all there is to it. When we look at the stars, we see that our lives are just a small part of a great and mysterious work.

Just a few hundred years ago, we relied on stories to explain what we saw when we looked up at the night sky. Today, more than ever before, we have the ability to express the universe as it really is. This unfolding story is proving to be more fascinating than anything humans can invent, and our knowledge of it is worth every penny we spend.