Entrepreneurship and tourism in space? A look at some recent giant leaps in astrophysics that makes it possible

Astrophysics is a branch of Astronomy that tries to understand the stuff of the universe- what its made of and how it works – it includes the study of the origins of the universe and its future, the birth and death of the Sun and all stars, the possibility of life on other planets, as well as nebulae, extrasolar planets, meteors and so on. And this study has been enhanced in all sorts of wondrous ways with the newly launched James Webb Space Telescope, the largest of its kind ever built. Over a decade in the making, this remarkable engineering marvel is showing us images of cosmic phenomena we have heretofore only guessed at, giving us new insight into the early formation of the universe and its ancient secrets. NASA released its first pictures in July ‘22. Besides yielding new discoveries about galaxies, stars, nebulae, exoplanets and more, space explorations and data received signal a new era in the search for livable planets and further opens up the gleaming possibility of finding life beyond our own blue planet!

Scientists eagerly await JWST’s exploration of TRAPPIST-1, a nearby star system that is believed to be capable of supporting life. One of the key functions of the telescope is to be able to analyse the light passing into a planet’s atmosphere as it could reveal biosignature gasses that could signify alien biology. While it will take years to get any of this critical data, exciting revelations are inevitable as the JWST continues its ten-year journey through our cosmos.