Ricardo Hueso Alonso
Researcher at the Department of Applied Physics I and the Planetary Sciences Group of the Bilbao School of Engineering of the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU
The selection of the James Webb Space Telescope as Science magazine's Science Milestone of the Year confirms the enormous impact this telescope is having on astronomy. Webb, three times the size of Hubble and optimised for infrared observation, has started an astronomical revolution that will extend for decades to come. With its huge budget and its decade of delays before its final launch, there was a question mark over how it would perform and what results this brand new telescope would give us. All of us who have had the good fortune to use it for observations can say that the quality of Webb's observations clearly exceeds the expectations of the international astronomical community. Since its first observations, it is fulfilling its goal of observing the light from the first galaxies and stars, which will allow cosmologists to refine the model of the expansion of the universe and to better understand why the universe is the way it is and how it works.
Webb is a multidisciplinary observatory capable of identifying as never before the components of the atmospheres of planets orbiting stars in our own galaxy, of shocking us with detailed images of the formation of stars and protoplanetary discs, of astonishing us with maps of star-forming regions, of showing us the outer structures of galaxies by tracing the effects that dark matter imprints on them through its gravity, and also of showing us the faintest, darkest and most difficult-to-explore details of the Solar System itself. Observing the Sun is the only field of astronomy that escapes its powerful gaze, and Webb's discoveries are only just beginning. Of course, this does not mean that other telescopes should be relegated, but it does mean that Webb opens a bright and wide window to our understanding of the universe.
In addition to the cosmological scales that the Webb opens up to us, it is worth mentioning on the local scale the important participation of researchers from our country who, for more than 20 years, have contributed their knowledge and talent to the development of some of the Webb's instruments, helping to make this telescope a reality, whose next and imminent discoveries we could only dream of a few years ago. Let us hope that the Webb will last for a long time and I am sure that it will surprise us with great milestones and discoveries.