Records are made to be broken
If the yearly publication of Guinness World Records proves anything, it’s that records are so fascinating because they are meant to be broken.
JWST has already shown that some records — particularly those related to distance — are in serious jeopardy. Telescope technology, in general, is quickly improving, and many cosmic records are now looking shaky.
“JWST has already demonstrated how powerful it can be. However, we are still learning how the instruments are working, and how to calibrate them,” says Oesch. “The large number of luminous galaxy candidates so early in the universe was definitely a surprise. These are very exciting times!”
And, when it comes to spotting the fast-moving stars around Sgr A*, Zajaček is eagerly awaiting another instrument set to begin observations later this decade.
“A real game-changer in this regard will be the Extremely Large Telescope [currently under construction in Chile] with its 39-meter primary mirror, which will detect many fainter stars than currently monitored S-stars,” Zajaček explains. “For sure, some of them will orbit Sgr A* at comparable distances to S4716, or hopefully even closer.”
The recent improvements of exoplanetary detection methods means exoplanet records are particularly vulnerable of displacement, too.
“From an exoplanet perspective, we are continuing to find new and very weird worlds, rogue planets, planets on comet-like orbits, super-puffs, and even hot Jupiters — planets that we would never have imagined existed even a few decades ago,” Roberts says. “As technology and our techniques improve, my guess is that this trend will only continue.
After all, according to Roberts: “The universe seems to be pretty good at forming weird and extreme things.”