News & Comment

If nothing else, 2021 has taught us to expect the unexpected. But what exactly are we expecting next year?

Although often not publicly identified, the personalities and life experiences of our referees affect their reviewing practices. Therefore having the most diverse set of reviewers possible underpins our efforts to ensure a fair peer review process.

As the world recovers from one global crisis, it must steel itself for the coming of a far greater one: the climate crisis. Astronomers and planetary scientists have roles to play as trusted scientific experts, but should seek partnerships with domain experts when venturing outside their areas of knowledge.

Many people have been unable to travel due to the pandemic, or even take a ‘staycation’. This August, we encourage you to slow down, look after your mental health, and let these stunning photographs transport you to a different place.

After years of relative neglect, Venus is enjoying renewed interest, with several missions bound to reach it in the next decade. Many questions about its nature still need to be answered, including regarding the highly debated presence of phosphine.

On the occasion of Pride month, we take the opportunity to revisit the discussion about equity in science and beyond and what we are doing to help.

Be it neutrinos, ultra-high-energy photons or gravitational waves, new cosmic messengers have expanded the available discovery space of astronomy by exploring previously inaccessible astrophysical environments.

The rapidly developing field of fast radio bursts (FRBs) took another leap forward in understanding when an FRB was associated with a magnetar in our Galaxy, identifying a specific source for the first time.

Three spacecraft from three different nations arrived at Mars in February 2021. Two of those nations are newcomers to Mars and the third successfully set out the path for a Mars sample return.

Nature Astronomy is committed to open science. The new open access option for authors is the next step along the road to full transparency, reproducibility and accessibility.

As we collectively welcome the new year, we retrace the 2020 milestones in sample return and look at a few of the major upcoming events in 2021. There are many reasons for astronomers to be optimistic.