Many defining events in the field of astronomy occurred in 2022. Among others, the James-Webb space telescope provided its first results, the first step of the return of humans to the Moon was taken, and humanity managed to deflect an asteroid! Back in pictures on these successful missions, and on others notable episodes of 2022.
The very first image of the James-Webb, revealing the deep sky
Launched on December 25, 2021, the télescope spatial James-Webb reached its endpoint a month later, beginning its exploration of the sky in early 2022. It was in July that his very first photo has been unveiled. We observe the deep sky there, through the cluster of galaxies Smacs 0723. It is home to thousands of galaxies, some of which are visible only in the infrared, never observed until today! It is the NIRCam instrument, specialist in this field of wavelengths, which made it possible in several weeks to create this composite image. In total, it required regarding 12.5 hours of exposure, and many images which were then assembled!
The devastating floods in Pakistan seen from the sky
In September 2022, Pakistan found itself drowned in ferocious floods, depriving a third of the country’s inhabitants of their homes and everything they owned, amounting to several tens of millions of people. Humanitarian aid was urgently requested, while crops and livestock were decimated. In question, global warming, as for most extreme climatic events, more and more numerous. The devastating floods in pakistan are no exception, while the country had already experienced heat records of over 50°C in May! There followed torrential rains from July to September during the monsoon, going so far as to create new lakes! The flooded lands also remained flooded for at least a month following the end of the rains, preventing the start of a return to normal.
Liftoff of Artemis, marking the first stage of a return to the Moon
After several weeks of postponement, the mission Artemis I has finally been started! The SLS mega rocket (Space Launch System) lifted off Nov. 16 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The goal of this first stage of the Artemis program is to fly over the Moon, before returning to Earth. No question for the moment of landing there, nor of bringing humans there. These two criteria will be fulfilled little by little, first with Artemis II which will embark three astronauts to fly over the Moon, then with Artemis III, which this time will take a complete crew to land on the lunar soil! For the moment, this last mission is planned for 2025, but will probably be delayed, because it depends on the SpaceX Lunar Starship which will not be ready in 2025.
The Earth seen from the Orion module
Again Artemis I, this time with a splendid view taken by the Orion module, on board the SLS. Shortly following takeoff, the capsule was ejected by the launcher, to continue its course. And some 92,000 kilometers from Earth, he made some selfies thanks to the various cameras he has on board, showing breathtaking views of our Planet ! After 13 mission days, or half, Orion achieved the greatest distance from Earth ever achieved by a spacecraft intended to receive a crew: 432,210, dethroning the previous record from the Apollo 13 mission in 1970. Twenty- five days following takeoff, the capsule returned unscathed to Earthlanding off the Mexican island of Guadalupe.
Mission Dart: the view just before impact with the asteroid
This is the first time that humanity has managed to deflect an asteroid ! The first time she tries, too. The impact occurred on the night of September 26-27, following 10 months of travel. The Dart probe, launched on November 24, 2021, violently collided with the asteroid Dimorphos, a small moon 160 meters in diameter orbiting the asteroid Didymos. And managed to change its orbit! The two bodies posed no danger to Earth, but were a perfect playground to try out planetary defense techniques. Subsequently, this mission will serve as a point of reference if an asteroid comes to dangerously cross our planet.
On the night of September 26 to 27, 2022, the Dart space probe collided with Dimorphos (160 meters in diameter), a small asteroid the size of the Colosseum in Rome, coupled with Didymos (780 meters in diameter). © Nasa, Jhons Hopkins APL
ESA’s new astronauts
The new selection was announced on November 23, 2022, following more than a year and a half of recruitment process. It follows the selections of 1978, 1992 and 2009. Among the new ESA astronauts, two new corps, that of the reservists with 12 members, and that of the parastronauts. The latter has only one member, John McFall, who might perhaps become the first astronaut with a disability to go into space! A total of 22,523 applications had been submitted in 2021, once morest less than 20 selected! Five active astronauts have been chosen, including the French Sophie Adenot, lieutenant-colonel in the French Air and Space armed forces.
March: the start of sample deposits
On December 21, the Perseverance rover dropped a strange tube on the Martian site “Three Forks”. With a look similar to that of a lightsaber worthy of Star Warsthis small tube contains Mars surface samples, and is the first of a series of 10 hits that will be brought to the site over the next few months. During the mission Mars Sample Return, Perseverance will deliver them directly to a future robotic lander, which will then deliver them to a small rocket tasked with delivering them to Mars orbit before returning to Earth. Return which will be done using another spaceship, which will capture the container of samples before leaving! However, the analysis of these samples will not be done before 2033, the expected date of their arrival.
The Sun seen by Solar Orbiter
Launched on June 15, 2020, the Solar Orbiter probe came closest to the Sun on March 23, 2022, at only 0.32 AU, or 48 million kilometers! At only 32% of the Earth-Sun distance, this placed the spacecraft inside the orbit of inner planet Mercury! And only a few days following this passage, unpublished images of the surface of our star were unveiled by the European space agency. One in particular, showing a kind of solar “hedgehog”, which extends for regarding 25,000 kilometers, with a multitude of hot and cold gas peaks in all directions. The image was captured by theExtreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI), and actually corresponds to an assembly of 25 different images!
In the Sahara, an almost perfect crater
In the heart of the Sahara desert is one of the best preserved craters on the planet: the Tenoumer crater. With a diameter of 1.9 kilometers and a depth of 110 meters, it is right in the center of the photo taken in May 2022, and seems almost added by hand! Researchers have long wondered if it was formed by a volcano or a meteorite, especially since basalt rocks have been found all around the crater. Finally, studies revealed that this kind of lava corresponded to ancient rocks melted under the impact of a meteorite! If it is in the middle of an ancient plain of rocks dating from before the dinosaurs, the Tenoumer crater is quite young, with an age of between 10,000 and 30,000 years.
Hubble celebrated its 32nd anniversary with a cluster of galaxies
Launched in 1990, the Hubble telescope celebrated its 32nd anniversary this year, unveiling for the occasion a cluster of galaxiescalled ” Hickson Compact Group 40 », or HCG40. Among the five galaxies in the photo, a so-called elliptical galaxy and a lenticular galaxy. As for the other three, they are in the form of spirals, like the Milky Way. Located near the constellation Hydra, the cluster is so compact it would fit in a region of space less than twice the diameter of our Milky Way’s stellar disk. This is due to the dark matter that surrounds it, causing each galaxy to come together, which will then lead to a collision! If James-Webb is well considered as his successor, we must not forget all the discoveries made by Hubble. We count in particular that of the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe, or the determination of its size, and its age!
Ground temperatures in Paris this summer
This time it’s not regarding a star, or rather the one we live in, and more precisely its temperature! The color image, made possible by NASA’s Ecostress instrument, depicts the ground temperature in Paris on June 18, 2022. And in some areas, we exceed 45°C, to go up to 48°C. The month of June has indeed blazed previous temperature records, with more than 50 ° C in certain regions of the world, such as India or Pakistan. Temperatures were regarding 10°C above normal. And it was in the cities that the heat proved to be the most stifling, especially in the non-vegetated areas. This can be seen by the few islands of freshness in green, corresponding to parks, woods or forests.
Mercury seen by BepiColombo
Since its launch in 2018, the BepiColombo probe, belonging to ESA and Jaxa, has carried out two Mercury flybys, the first in October 2021, and the second in June 2022. Revealing for the occasion new views of the planet closest to the Sun! Belonging to the telluric planets, Mercury is the smallest in the Solar System, with 4,880 kilometers in diameter. Its proximity to the Sun makes it difficult to observe. The photo below reveals elements belonging to the space probe in the foreground, then many details of the surface of Mercury appear, including the Debussy impact crater surrounded by its ejecta. BepiColombo will make six flybys of Mercury, thanks to the gravitational assistance of the planet.
Comet Leonard, big winner of the astronomy photos of 2022
Every year for the past 14 years, the Royal Observatory in Greenwich has organized the ” Astronomy Photographer of the Year », which rewards the most beautiful astronomy photos of the year. In 2022, a snapshot of comet Leonard, or C/2021 A1, won first prize, among 35 other photographs. Photographed by Gerald Rhemann, it was discovered in 2021 by astronomer Greg Leonard. And the image shows a key event in the life of this comet: tail disconnection, or when a piece of the comet’s tail separates from the rest. The phenomenon occurred following the comet was hit by high-speed solar particles.
