- Many cosmic views have been captured in 2023 by spacecraft such as the James Webb Space Telescope and NASA’s Juno.
- NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter glided over the Martian landscape, revealing traces of human exploration; The infrared capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope reveal rings around stars like Fomalhaut and Uranus, providing unprecedented views of these distant celestial objects.
spacecraft; It zips around our solar system, capturing spectacular images of moons, planets and ancient galaxies. The images sent to Earth in 2023 are jaw-dropping.
Photo taken with the Webb Telescope shows the real warping of spacetime
Astronomers used the Webb Space Telescope to observe the SDSS J1226+2149 galaxy cluster, located 6.3 billion light-years away. The massive mass of this cluster creates gravitational lensing, bending space like a bowling ball on a mattress. This distortion magnifies distant celestial objects.
The European Space Agency image shows distorted red shapes, including the “Cosmic Seahorse.” This reveals intricate details of star formation in the distant galaxy, made visible by the strong magnification caused by distorted spacetime.
NASA spacecraft gets very close to volcanic world
Juno, the distant probe orbiting Jupiter, is moving closer to Io, the Solar system’s most active volcanic moon. During its 55th orbit in October, Juno came within 11,700 kilometers of Io. This was almost three times closer to Earth than some US weather satellites.
Continuing its approach, Juno aims to reach just 1,500 kilometers from Io by December. This approach; It aims to study Io’s volcanic activity, observing eruptions, temperatures and lava flow changes across multiple passages.
NASA helicopter captures spectacular view of Mars with some surprises
In April, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter, on its 51st flight, soared 40 feet above Mars and captured a breathtaking view of the Martian landscape. Towering over the rim of Belva crater, the five-foot rotorcraft revealed an Earth-like landscape with a rocky desert in the foreground, wind-beaten hills stretching along the horizon, and a bright sky. Dotted across the landscape are intriguing traces of human exploration, including the car-sized Perseverance rover, scattered remnants of exploration, and the helicopter’s legs and shadow.
The Webb Telescope captured an image of a Solar system unlike our own
Scientists using the powerful James Webb Space Telescope have discovered two inner asteroid belts around the young star Fomalhaut, just 25 light-years away.
While previous telescopes such as Hubble had detected Fomalhaut’s distant outer ring, located about 22 billion kilometers from the star, Webb’s infrared capabilities revealed these inner belts.
This discovery allowed the observation of the thermal dust glow in the inner regions, a previously impossible feat, as emphasized by astronomer Schuyler Wolff of the University of Arizona, and provided new insights into the composition and structure of the system.
NASA captured an unprecedented image of Uranus
The Webb Telescope’s infrared capability has revealed vibrant distant rings surrounding Uranus that are not usually visible in visible light. NASA scientist Stefanie Milam emphasized the telescope’s unique ability and noted the difficulty of detecting Uranus’ ice and dust rings, stating that this latest observation is a rare and important event.
Compiled by: Eliz Canyurt
