Space is the place

Did you take your seat for the greatest show in the universe? Last night, people around the world watched the Geminids, nicknamed the "king of meteor showersA celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate, or originate, from one point in the night sky.." Skywatchers could see up to 150 meteors an hour streaking across the sky.

2023 might be seen as a landmark for asteroidA small body in space, made of metal and rock material. Asteroids usually orbit the sun, but if knocked off course they can be drawn into Earth's gravity and fall towards it. exploration. In autumn, NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration, responsible for the US space programme. received its first batch of asteroid matter for study, courtesy of its OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. The sample from the 4.5 billion-year old asteroid Bennu contains carbon and water.

NASA also sent off a vessel named Psyche, which aims to travel to a unique metal-rich asteroid between Mars and Jupiter.

Yet perhaps the biggest discovery came late last month. Researchers revealed "the perfect solar systemThe Sun and the objects whose movement it controls.". HD110067, 100 light yearsA unit of measurement equal to the distance that light travels in one year, which is 9.4607 times 1012 km. That's nearly 6 million million miles! from us, features six similarly-sized planets that rotate in sync.¹ They might teach us much about how planets are formed.

More excitingly, the bright star at the centre of the system also makes it easier to look for signs of life. 

We have long been fascinated by the idea of life on other planets. But we have found very little evidence.

2023 could be the year the tide turns. As astronomerA scientist that studies the universe and space. Prof. Catherine Heymans says: "We now have the technology and the capability to answer the question of whether we are alone in the cosmos."

The OSIRIS-REx and Psyche missions are seeking organicRelating to or derived from living matter. substances. They might provide further clues. And in September the JWBT may have discovered dimethyl sulphide (DMS) on a faraway planet - a chemical only produced by living creatures.²

Not everyone agrees we will, or even that life exists. Some scientists think that if aliens exist, someone would have called us by now. 2023 could be the year we started to realise the search for aliens was a dead end.³

Could ET be real?

Yes: It is only a matter of time. From watery asteroids to DMS, the evidence is piling up at an unprecedentedNever been seen before. pace. The idea that only one planet in an infinite universe contains life was always absurd.

No: We want there to be life in space. It will bring excitement and help to explain our own existence. But we have no proof. And if it does exist, it may be very different from what we expect.

Or... It does not matter whether ET, or any alien life, is real or not. What matters is the search itself, which brings new discoveries about space and chemicals. And fuels our imagination.