Humanity Reaches New Heights in 2023
In 2023, humanity looked toward the sky to discover, gather and uncover some of the greatest mysteries in the cosmos. This year saw incredibly detailed images from the most advanced telescope in space, as well as the 25th year of a global partnership sending astronauts to orbit Earth.
One of the major highlights of the year was the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) discovering the “hum of the universe.” The organization has been studying pulsars, which are rapidly spinning neutron stars that emit radio frequencies that can be used to detect gravitational waves. Being able to detect these specific types of gravitational waves is crucial in understanding supermassive black holes and potentially getting closer to unraveling the mysteries of dark matter.
Another significant event was the success of the James Webb Space Telescope, which has been sending back groundbreaking information. The telescope was sent into space in 2021 and has built on the discoveries of the Hubble Space Telescope, capturing the clearest images of “stellar nurseries” and the smallest brown dwarf star ever observed.
In addition, the OSIRIS-REx mission successfully brought asteroid samples back to Earth, providing scientists with exciting material to study and potentially unlock the secrets of the universe.
The year also marked the 25th anniversary of the International Space Station, an extraordinary partnership between the United States and Russia that has produced numerous breakthroughs in space research and technology.
Furthermore, 2023 saw a record-breaking number of U.S. rocket launches, with 105 successful launches from SpaceX alone, making outer space a little more accessible.
Miles O’Brien, PBS NewsHour science correspondent, remarked that 2023 was a year of significant breakthroughs in space exploration. With the James Webb Space Telescope rewriting astronomy textbooks and the continued advancements in space travel, humanity has made great strides in uncovering the mysteries of the cosmos.