Editorials

Twenty years ago, the Spirit and Opportunity rovers landed on Mars. Over the next 15 years, they showed us a planet that was warmer and wetter — and capable of sustaining life — that we now take as read.

A series of pieces published in this issue highlights the breadth and depth of topics discussed in modern astrobiology, an exciting discipline that has come to the forefront of astronomy in recent years and promises to answer one of the most fundamental questions of humanity.

It’s been an eventful year for robotic missions. From probes of Solar System bodies to large-scale cosmic structures, advances in our understanding of the formation and evolution of the Universe gather speed.

Astronomy has always been a direct way to bring science to the public. From planetariums to books and initiatives to bring the night sky to all corners of the world, our only limit is creativity (and funding).

The two Moon landing attempts of the Luna 25 and the Chandrayaan-3 missions in close succession are symbolic of the renewed international push to go back to the Moon on a more consistent basis, which is shaping up to be one of the main space exploration narratives of our time.

A new regular column, Access Code, makes its debut in this issue. Access Code will focus on computational astrophysics, and in particular the models and programs that have supported astrophysical discoveries over the past few decades.

With the retirement of Ariane 5, Europe lost its only heavy-lift rocket — one that carried most of ESA’s fleet of large astronomy missions. The long-term future of independent access to space for Europe is not straightforward and can complicate the European space exploration roadmap.

Early JWST results on high-redshift galaxies have attracted a lot of press and much debate, but other areas of astronomy and astrophysics are also uncovering new understanding about the Universe with JWST, albeit with less of a fanfare.

Reports of four galaxies from when the Universe was 2% of its current age are as exciting as they are puzzling — leading scientists to question our galaxy formation and evolution models.

Missions from various space agencies are going to be busy delivering material from different bodies throughout the upcoming decade, looking forward to the return of samples from Mars.

Light pollution affects every region on Earth, including at the poles and even above us in low-Earth orbit. That isn’t news. But the extent of the problem, laid out in our Focus on dark skies, is startling and should turn us all into activists.

The launch of ChatGPT late last year has school teachers, conference organizers, Google and others worried, for different reasons. Where should we draw the line when it comes to artificial intelligence?

We are still in the early days of open science, with implementation lagging ideation. But the benefits are clear and progress is picking up.

For blind and visually impaired astronomers, sonification of data creates opportunities for research and outreach. But for everyone, this Focus issue lays out the benefits of complementing vision-based data analysis tools with data sonification.

Although space debris has been a problem for decades, recent investment in active debris clearing shows a wider commitment to sustainable space development.

Our Collection on dwarf galaxies brings together a series of articles that showcase the breadth of research in this field, with links to galaxy formation and evolution, cosmology, dark matter and the interstellar medium.

Astronomy needs ground- as well as space-based telescopes. The European Southern Observatory (ESO), an example of successful international cooperation, has managed state-of-the-art observatories for the past 60 years.

With the easing of the global COVID-19 pandemic, conference organizers now have the option to return to in-person conferencing once again. Early indications show that they are keen to do so, largely without any online-access possibility, despite the manifold benefits of virtual attendance.

As the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion within teams grows, large organizations are starting to commit to funding and data-driven action to build on and sustain the momentum.

Origins, Worlds, and Life is the title of the US Planetary Decadal Survey for 2023–2032. The completion of the Mars sample return and the exploration of the outer Solar System icy worlds crown a varied programme that touches all the diverse aspects of planetary science.