2025 has been quite the year for astronomy and space, new discoveries and Northern Lights.
One story rose above all the others — new and older telescopes are putting us on the cusp of monumental discoveries about our universe.
In 2025 a decades-old telescope located at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) and a powerful camera called the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) led the way to understand the nature of Dark Energy.
“New results from the DESI collaboration use the largest 3D map of our Universe ever made to track dark energy’s influence over the past 11 billion years. Researchers see hints that dark energy, widely thought to be a ‘cosmological constant,’ might be evolving over time in unexpected ways,” KPNO stated in 2025.
In 2025 the DESI Collaboration won a prestigious award for their ongoing work, which will continue into the years ahead.
Hard to believe that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has been operational for almost four years — it was launched Christmas Day 2021. JWST has been making incredible discoveries about the early universe and will continue to do so.
To complement JWST, NASA’s next space telescope, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, just completed construction this month at NASA Goddard and is slated for launch by May 2027.
As explained by NASA, it is “named after NASA’s first chief astronomer, the ‘mother of the Hubble Space Telescope,’ the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will have a field of view at least 100 times larger than Hubble’s, potentially measuring light from a billion galaxies in its lifetime. This observatory will also be able to block starlight to directly see exoplanets and planet-forming disks, complete a statistical census of planetary systems in our galaxy, and settle essential questions in the areas of dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics.”
I hope to visit Goddard in 2026 and see Roman up close and personal.
A huge accomplishment and advancement in our telescopes to observe our universe came about this year with the completion of the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. It will be key to our understanding of Dark Matter.
“Rubin Observatory is the first of its kind: its mirror design, camera sensitivity, telescope speed, and computing infrastructure are each in an entirely new category,” the observatory states on its website. “The 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope at Rubin Observatory, equipped with the LOST Camera — the largest digital camera ever built — will take detailed images of the southern hemisphere sky for 10 years, covering the entire sky every few nights and creating an ultrawide, ultra-high-definition, time-lapse record — the largest astronomical movie of all time. This unique movie will bring the night sky to life, yielding a treasure trove of discoveries: asteroids and comets, pulsating stars, and supernova explosions.
With Rubin data we will gain a better understanding of our universe, delve into the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter, and reveal answers to questions we have yet to imagine.
Astronomers worldwide are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the European Southern Observatory’s Extremely Large Telescope, which will be the world’s largest telescope with a main mirror diameter of 39 meters. It is slated for first science observations in December 2030.
Oh, and for you black hole fans, here is the “Best of Black Holes for 2025.”
To conclude, 2025 has also brought the universe home to those who wish to see it for themselves in the form of smart telescopes that deliver incredible images and views to your eyes, smartphone and/or tablet. This past year saw the explosion of available smart telescopes and new models are likely for 2026
Wishing everyone a joyous New Year full of wonderful sky sights. To help you get started, be sure to check out the January 2026 edition of “Eyes to the Skies” on New Year’s Day.
Follow my daily blog to keep up with the latest news in astronomy and space exploration. You can email me at skyguyinva@gmail.com.
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