{"id":591,"date":"2022-01-06T19:00:41","date_gmt":"2022-01-06T18:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=108537"},"modified":"2022-01-06T19:17:33","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T18:17:33","slug":"distant-worlds-a-statue-made-out-of-a-rocket-and-a-dinosaur-egg-december-2021s-eye-opening-science-images","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/distant-worlds-a-statue-made-out-of-a-rocket-and-a-dinosaur-egg-december-2021s-eye-opening-science-images\/","title":{"rendered":"Distant worlds, a statue made out of a rocket and a dinosaur egg: December 2021\u2019s eye-opening science images"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By James Cutmore\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 06 January 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Christmas and New Year have blasted past us in a blur, and now it\u2019s time to look forward to what 2022 has to offer. But before we do, we take a glance back at some of the best images in science over the festive period.<\/p>\n

From the discovery of a remarkable dinosaur embryo, a record-breaking volcanic eruption, and space missions launching left, right and centre, it certainly was busy. And with the James Webb Space Telescope<\/a> launching on Christmas Day, by this time next year, we will hopefully start seeing some amazing images of our Universe.<\/p>\n

Buried in ash<\/h2>\n
\""A\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
A fissure is seen next to a house covered with ash on the Canary island of La Palma, Spain, on 1 December 2021. A volcanic eruption in Spain\u2019s Canary Islands recently became the island\u2019s longest eruption on record.\u00a0Photo by Emilio Morenatti\/AP\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Stuck around<\/h2>\n
\""Cement\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Cement trucks belonging to sand miners sit buried by volcanic ash after heavy rains shifted ash from the slopes of Indonesia\u2019s most active volcano, Merapi, in Magelang on 2 December 2021. Photo by Agung Supriyanto\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Working from home<\/h2>\n
\""tele-education\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Children work in a classroom while a schoolgirl is connected remotely with the help of a \u2018Buddy\u2019 tele-education robot at Jules Ferry elementary school on 3 December 2021 in Ormesson-sur-Marne, near Paris, France. Photo by Ludovic Marin\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Not going like a rocket<\/h2>\n
\""woman\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
A woman walks in front of a Soyuz rocket installed as a monument in Baikonur City, near the Russian leased Kazakh Baikonur cosmodrome on 5 December 2021. Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Distant worlds<\/h2>\n
\""This\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
This image released on 8 December 2021 shows the most massive planet-hosting star pair to date, b Centauri, and its giant planet b Centauri b. This is the first time astronomers have directly observed a planet orbiting a star pair this massive and hot. The star pair, which has a total mass of at least six times that of the Sun, is the bright object in the top left corner of the image, the bright and dark rings around it being optical artefacts. The planet, visible as a bright dot in the lower right of the frame, is 10 times as massive as Jupiter and orbits the pair at 100 times the distance Jupiter orbits the Sun. The other bright dot in the image (top right) is a background star. Photo by ESO\/VLT<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

COVID studies<\/h2>\n
\""lab\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
This picture shows a lab technician performing variant analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genomes with a genome sequencer at the Imelda hospital in Bonheiden, Belgium on 8 December 2021. Photo by Dirk Waem\/Belga Mag\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

All systems go!<\/h2>\n
\""Flames\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
The Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft carrying the crew of Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his production assistant Yozo Hirano blasts off to the International Space Station from the Moscow-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 8 December 2021. Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Another fin mess<\/h2>\n
\""China's\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Taxidermists install China\u2019s longest fin whale specimen at the Shanghai Natural History Museum on 9 December 2021 in Shanghai, China. The fin whale was found at the junction of the Yangtze River Estuary and Hangzhou Bay in Shanghai in March 2017. Photo by VCG\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Here be dragons<\/h2>\n
\""Dragon\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
A woman walks near the \u2018Vaia Dragon\u2019, a sculpture made by Italian artist Marco Martalar in Lavarone near Trento, Alps Region, Northeastern Italy, on 13 December 2021. Venetian artist Marco Martalar creates his works from wooden debris of the Vaia windstorm that hit the Veneto region in October 2018, destroying thousands of hectares of forest, and shattering the Italian forest system. Photo by Marco Bertorello\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Turn up for the books<\/h2>\n
\""Futuristic\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
This photo taken on 15 December 2021 shows people visiting a book store in Foshan in China\u2019s southern Guangdong province. Photo by AFP\/STR\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Ripe for picking<\/h2>\n
\""Workers\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Workers pick ripe tomatoes in an intelligent greenhouse in Zhangye City, Northwest China\u2019s Gansu Province, 15 December 2021. Photo by Wang Jiang\/Costfoto\/Future Publishing\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

More great images from Science Focus magazine:<\/strong><\/p>\n