Editorials

Origins, Worlds, and Life is the title of the US Planetary Decadal Survey for 2023–2032. The completion of the Mars sample return and the exploration of the outer Solar System icy worlds crown a varied programme that touches all the diverse aspects of planetary science.

Historical under-regulation of the Earth’s atmosphere and the orbital space around it have brought the astronomy and space communities to a critical point at which action is needed to move towards a sustainable future.

As a result of the ongoing conflict, long-standing collaborations in astronomy and space are jeopardized and individual researchers are facing difficult choices that will have a long-term impact on the advancement of science.

Following the nominal arrival of the James Webb Space telescope at L2, hopes are high for exciting scientific discoveries, starting from later this year and stretching for decades to come.

Nature Astronomy turned five this month. We share some of our most popular covers and impactful papers, and look forward to more discoveries in 2022.

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.

The ‘new normal’ way of life for coping with the COVID-19 outbreak is a work in progress. When we move on, we should keep some of our adaptations rather than return to the old ways, for a more open and equitable way of working.

Small satellites are revolutionizing the way we access space for commerce and science, including astronomy and planetary science. Yet, like many breakthrough technologies, it has a double-edge.

The detection of phosphine in the cloud decks of Venus generated 4,700 news stories around the world. This kind of coordination was only possible because of our embargo policy.

Quantitative estimates presented in this issue demonstrate that astronomers contribute more to climate change than the average global citizen. Concerted actions are needed to reduce the ecological impacts of our occupation.